By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
The City of Whitewater has been without a “non-interim” police chief since December 3, 2021 when former chief Aaron Raap was placed on administrative leave following an arrest in which he was ultimately not charged. However, an investigation conducted for the city by an outside police officer took months to complete. Raap resigned and retired effective June 30, 2022. Deputy Chief Daniel “Dan” A. Meyer has served as interim chief since December. He certainly did not expect to wear that title for over eight months, but “interim” was officially removed from his title on the evening of August 16 when the Common Council unanimously approved an employment agreement with him. Meyer had been approved as chief by the Police and Fire Commission on July 25, with all that remained being for his salary and benefits to be approved by the council.
Meyer’s annualized salary will start at $102,800. It was indicated that the car that had been assigned to the previous chief is of greater benefit to the department if made available to all members of the command staff for use while on duty. Consequently a transportation stipend is included in the agreement. The agreement does not specify a term and provides that the chief may resign with 60 days notice. The Police and Fire Commission may terminate the chief for cause at any time.
Meyer graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2009 from UW-Platteville with a B.S. in Criminal Justice, with minors in psychology and Spanish. There he was a four year letter winner in track and field. The same year he graduated from the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Academy. Meyer joined the Whitewater Police Department as a patrol officer in January of 2010. He served as a detective from January 2013 to August, 2014. Meyer then rose through the ranks as follows: Detective Sergeant, August, 2014; Detective Lieutenant, September, 2015; Captain, November, 2015, and Deputy Chief, April, 2019. Meyer earned an M.S. in Public Administration, with a criminology and criminal justice specialization from University of Nebraska – Omaha in 2019. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in 2020 after eight years of service.
