PWPD veteran Czarnecki to serve as interim chief

Port Washington Police Capt. Craig Czarnecki was named interim chief of police following a closed session of the Police and Fire Commission Friday, June 12.

Czarnecki succeeds Kevin Hingiss, who retired Monday after 42 years with the department to take a job in the private sector.

Jim Biever, chairman of the Police and Fire Commission, said Czarnecki, a 35-year veteran of the Port department, was the only candidate interviewed for the interim position.

“He brings stability to the department,” Biever said. “He’s well liked and respected. He’s second in command, and he definitely has the pulse of the department.”

Czarnecki was also in on planning for the new public safety building from the start — a facility the department is expected to move into in the next month or so, Biever noted.

Biever said it made sense to ask someone in the department to take over as acting chief.

“During the transition, I don’t think it makes sense to bring someone in from the outside,” he said.

Czarnecki was hired by the Port department on March 22, 1991, and promoted to lieutenant in 2012. In October 2020, he was named captain, the second-highest position in the department.

He has served as a member of the Ozaukee County Special Response Team and as a firearms instructor.

In 2011, he received the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Post 82 Law and Order Award.

Now that an acting chief has been appointed, Biever said, the commission can turn its attention to finding a permanent replacement for Hingiss, who had been with the department since 1984.

He was promoted to sergeant in 1994 and named a lieutenant when the position was reclassified in 2007, then named chief in 2011, taking office on Jan. 1, 2012, to succeed former Chief Richard Thomas.

Biever said the commission will have to review the job description and postings and decide how to proceed to find a new chief.

“This has all happened so quickly,” he said, noting Hingiss announced his retirement in mid-May.

While the commission ideally would have started the process immediately, Biever said, there were several complicating factors. Commission member Sarah Burdette’s term just ended and Mayor Ted Neitzke announced on Tuesday that she will be replaced by former alderman Dan Becker. In addition, commission member Ed Johnson is on vacation.

“We will need to hold a special meeting to talk about the whole process and what we’re looking for,” Biever said.

He said the commission hasn’t taken a stance on whether to hire from within or  look regionally or nationally for a new chief.

“I’m wide open on that,” he said.

There isn’t any urgency in finding a new chief, Biever said.

“We want to take our time and do it right,” he said. “After all, it’s a lifetime appointment.”

Biever said he expects there will be a good number of candidates for the job, noting Port is an attractive community. It could take until sometime this fall to hire a new chief, he added.

One person who’s likely to apply for the job is Czarnecki.

“I’m interested,” he said Tuesday.