The new Assistant Police Chief in the city of Two Rivers was sworn-in during Monday night’s council meeting.
Melissa Wiesner will be on the force for 21 years this April, having previously served as a School Resource Officer, detective, and investigator.
Wiesner is the first-ever assistant chief and the highest-ranking female officer with the TRPD according to new police chief Ben Meinnert.
“We have female officers at every level of the department right now,” he explained. “We have a brand-new officer who is female. She just got a lifesaving award at the last council meeting. We have a veteran officer that will be going into the SRO role. We also have a Shift Commander, our longest-tenured Lieutenant. I believe she has 30 years in right now. Karen Elsenpeter.”
Wiesner graduated from the FBI Academy following a 10-week leadership course and she explained how helpful that was to her.
“One of the biggest takeaways I got from it was all the connections to other agencies and other leaders to rely on if anything should happen,” she said. “It’s really good to have that networking.”
Chief Meinnert, who has been in his new post for 2 months, effective this past Wednesday, said three officers within the department who are interested in filling Melissa Wiesner’s former role of Detective Lieutenant.
