Hunting for Balance:
Waukesha sheriff
at home and on the job
by Michelle Wegner
 |
| Trawicki poses by a campaign sign. He gained
70 percent of the votes in a September election to become Waukesha
County sheriff. Photo courtesy of Dan Trawicki |
It's a lazy Sunday
morning. Dan Trawicki sits at his dining room table in tattered jeans
and an old sweatshirt, diligent but frustrated in programming his new
cell phone. At the same time, he's patiently explaining to his doe-eyed
9-year-old the reasons she can't get a cat.
The next morning, Trawicki, 45, sits at his round mahogany conference table
in his office, wearing a blue shirt and tie—a gun on his hip and gel
in his hair. The phone on his desk rings incessantly, but he's able to ignore
it.
As the newly elected Waukesha County sheriff, Trawicki talks about the several
changes in his life since he gained 70 percent of the votes over Capt. Terry
Martorano on Sept. 10, 2002, and Gov. Scott McCallum granted him early appointment
to the job on Sept. 12. His position officially begins in January. Raised
in Brookfield, Trawicki will be the first Waukesha County sheriff to hold
a four-year term rather than two after a change in statute.
But a badge isn’t the only symbol of Trawicki’s work. The mounted
deer head on his office wall speaks to the business he runs out of his home,
Northwoods Taxidermy, started in 1977. Boasting a passion for the outdoors
as an avid hunter, African safari enthusiast and fisherman, Trawicki admits
his business took a backseat during the campaign. However, he feels lucky
to be able to continue with his taxidermy with outside help and a flexible
schedule. In addition, the business and hunting provide Trawicki with a
change in pace from his day job.
“Probably the nicest thing I like about [taxidermy] is the fact that it is so diverse from law enforcement … and I think that’s healthy. Anybody that knows me knows that we’re an outdoor family … that’s always been a big part of my life and always will be,” Trawicki says.
A family passion
 |
| The sheriff poses with an 11-point buck
he shot in 200. In addition to being a sheriff and running his own
taxidermy business, Trawicki is an avid hunter.
Photo courtesy of Buffalo County Outfitters. |
A love for the outdoors
is reflected in almost everything Trawicki, his wife of 18 years, Joyce,
and daughter, Abby, do. In addition to his membership in Safari Club International
and the National Rifle Association, Trawicki’s log-cabin style home
in the town of Genesee signifies the epitome of his family’s enthusiasm
for nature.
While driving down their long, snaking driveway, a fenced-in game farm complete
with deer diverts visitors’ eyes. Once in the house, an African tribal
motif is blaringly apparent, with a full-size mounted lion and bear standing
in the living room. From the walls, more than 30 pairs of eyes of both familiar
and exotic animals stare into space.
Former Sheriff William Kruziki says Trawicki’s varied interests create
dimension for him as a person. He knows how to separate work from home and
that’s the kind of balance needed to be a good husband, father, friend
and sheriff, Kruziki affirms. This balance is the main reason Kruziki fully
supported Trawicki’s run for sheriff.
Building on
experience
His career, however, has not been untainted. In 1984, as a part of a drug-bust
team, Trawicki slipped and fell with his gun in his hand, accidentally shooting
and killing a suspect. He was cleared of any wrongdoing through an inquest,
though to this day Trawicki remembers the unfortunate and tragic results
for all concerned.
Trawicki used the incident as a building block as he laid the foundation
of 23 years in Waukesha County law enforcement. The other blocks include
his work as a detective, lieutenant and sergeant. Yet he says he never had
any interest in running for sheriff until an eight-year stint as a second-shift
captain, taking calls and chasing perpetrators on the road, left him feeling
unchallenged.
Subsequently, he took on the role of deputy inspector in 1999—a job
Trawicki claims is “not as laid-back as [one would think].”
As third-in-command, he monitored almost all department operations including
patrol shifts, court services, the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Unit and
the detective bureau—basically everything except the jail. The exhaustive
administrative work provided him with a countywide view of the issues and
problems facing Waukesha residents.
So late last year when Kruziki began to consider leaving the sheriff’s
department to apply for a federal marshal position, Trawicki saw the chance
to shape the future of the department and play a larger role in decision-making.
It was an opportunity he couldn’t resist.
When he signed up for the ballot in early May 2002, little did his family
and others around him know they were going along for the ride as well. Trawicki
even assigned his best friend from grade school, Dan Gorecki, to be treasurer
of the campaign.
Working with those he knows best was a good choice, says District Attorney
Paul Bucher, who describes Trawicki’s campaign as “multi-faceted.”
Being the outgoing and social person he is, Trawicki did not rely solely
on yard signs and newspapers to advocate his position. Instead, he and his
family went out in the public to meet people face to face at various community
meetings, parades and festivals throughout the summer.
“It definitely was a growing experience,” Trawicki’s wife
Joyce reminisces. Though his daughter grudgingly admits she didn’t
get to go hunting with her dad as much as usual, it was still a fun summer—and
a successful summer at that.
Ultimately, Kruziki believes Trawicki’s organization and presence
in the community helped get him elected one vote at a time. “Signs
don’t vote, people do,” Kruziki says.
Waukesha County resident and voter Dana Sieckert says, “He’s
not just a cop looking for the power. He was always straightforward and
honest [during the campaign], and I believe he will serve as a regular person
with the regular person in mind.”
Trawicki's
goals for his office ... and for himself
Some of the issues Trawicki highlighted throughout his campaign included
the advocacy of a new addition for the county jail, instituting joint dispatch
services with all 10 centers in the county and maintaining funding for the
DARE drug-prevention program taught in local elementary schools.
The DARE program is especially important to Trawicki, whose preadolescent
daughter is enrolled in the Waukesha School District. “Show me
that it doesn’t work instead of that it does,” he says.
He believes there is no way a program like DARE can be a negative experience
when police officers combine interaction with children, prevention measures
and public relations to lower youth drug and alcohol usage in a community.
Suitably, Trawicki’s goal is to see his projects through to completion,
he says. He has no intentions for drastic changes in the department of more
than 300 employees, but he does want to see improvements in Waukesha County
as a whole. Gorecki does not believe this will be a big challenge for Trawicki,
who has a multitude of supporters.
“When the troops are all behind you, you can get a lot accomplished,”
Gorecki says.
In addition to the projects advocated on the campaign trail, Trawicki participates
in and heavily advocates La Casa de Esperanza, a group that tries to bring
the Hispanic community together as a whole.
He also recently developed a program with Bucher called Protecting Children
Online, to get to the root of Internet-related crimes against children.
The program involves two detectives monitoring chat rooms countywide and
regionally to seize and analyze illegal actions on the Web.
“To be effective long-term, you have to establish strong relationships
with your partners. Dan has done that and continues to foster those relationships,”
Bucher says.
Trawicki exemplifies this not only in the office but outside as well. When
asked what he believes his new role in society is, he says he wants to set
an example and be a good role model within the department. On a more personal
level, he wants to be a leader of positive change in the community.
But more importantly, he strives to maintain a respectable balance of work
and play. He recently took his daughter to Texas for a father-daughter hunting
trip, and next summer he’ll chair the 11th annual Youth Hunter Day,
sponsored by the Wisconsin chapter of Safari Club International. He’ll
also travel to Africa for his eighth safari, but this time he’s taking
Joyce and Abby along.
“Dan is a committed and dedicated professional who works well with
others … [but] he does not take himself too seriously and realizes
there are other things in this world that are more important,” Bucher
says.
