Wisconsin State Capitol Police

Report 24-4 | April 2024

SUMMARY

The Department of Administration (DOA) is statutorily responsible for safeguarding the State Capitol. DOA’s Division of Wisconsin State Capitol Police provides security services to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, legislators, Supreme Court justices, visiting dignitaries, state employees, and the public. In fiscal year (FY) 2022-23, Capitol Police was appropriated $6.8 million.

Capitol Police uses a variety of measures to help ensure security at the State Capitol. These measures include legislative duress alarms located in legislative offices and chambers, duress alarms located in areas of the State Capitol occupied by the executive and judicial branches, door and window alarms, and surveillance cameras.

Primary responsibility for providing security in capitol buildings in 44 states is assigned to the executive branch

Map showing which branch has the primary responsibility for providing security in capitol buildings by state.

View Interactive Figure

We determined security measures at capitol buildings nationwide, including:

the branch of government with primary responsibility for providing security in the capitol buildings;
whether states employed metal detectors and X-ray machines in their capitol buildings or required building visitors to present photo identification; and
whether individuals can carry firearms in the buildings.

Capitol Police responded faster, on average, to legislative duress alarms than to all incidents from FY 2021-22 through FY 2022-23

We determined the timeliness of Capitol Police’s response to incidents in the State Capitol that typically require a quick response. We found that Capitol Police responded to 95 legislative duress alarms 4.3 percent faster, on average, than its average response time to 300 incidents from FY 2021-22 through FY 2022-23. We recommend DOA require Capitol Police to consistently record incident response times and improve its assessment of incident response times.

Our February 2024 survey of 50 Capitol Police staff, 39 of whom responded (78.0 percent), found that most responding police officers and dispatchers indicated they understood the actions they should take to respond to alarms in the State Capitol in a timely manner.

Turnover among Capitol Police staff was 33.1 percent in FY 2022-23

In July 2023, Capitol Police was authorized 55.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions, including 45.0 FTE positions that were filled (81.8 percent) and 10.0 FTE positions that were vacant (18.2 percent). Staff turnover increased from 24.0 percent in FY 2021-22 to 33.1 percent in FY 2022-23. We recommend DOA require Capitol Police to improve its staff recruitment and retention efforts.

Statutes require all certified law enforcement officers to complete at least 24 hours of recertification training every fiscal year. All such officers employed by Capitol Police as of November 2023 had completed this training from FY 2020-21 through FY 2022-23. However, Capitol Police’s records included insufficient information to allow us to determine whether staff received training on all topics required by its written procedures. We recommend DOA require Capitol Police to maintain sufficient training records and improve its oversight of Capitol Police.

Most Capitol Police staff who responded to our survey indicated they were satisfied with their compensation, number of hours worked weekly, and length of shifts. However, less than one-half of respondents were satisfied with their professional development opportunities and the responsiveness of supervisors to their questions and feedback. Many survey respondents indicated dissatisfaction with various aspects of their jobs.

We make 13 recommendations to DOA for improvements

Please see the complete list of our recommendations on our website.