Benbenek decides to serve as interim police chief in Minocqua

The plan was to have lieutenant Jason Benbenek succeed Minocqua police chief Dave Jaeger once Jaeger retires at the start of 2025.

However, on Nov. 1, Benbenek notified town officials in an email he decided not to take on the job as top cop in town, but instead serve as the interim police chief until a permanent replacement is found.

“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to withdraw from the upcoming position for the Chief of Police for the Town of Minocqua,” he wrote. “The transition will continue as Chief Jaeger laid out, with the exception that I will become the Interim Chief of Police on January 3rd, until the Chief position is filled by the town. I do appreciate everyone who supported me.”

Jaeger was brought on permanently by the board in April of 2014, according to The Lakeland Times archives. He served six years in the department prior and was a lieutenant when he was selected to succeed former police chief Andy Gee on an interim basis in November of 2013. 

Minocqua town chairman Mark Hartzheim told the Times on Tuesday the expected start to the hiring process will include placing statewide advertisements through different resources. 

The town board, he said, will then review a pool of candidates and narrow it down to applicants it would like to interview.

“I think (the hiring process) will depend on the interest that we see and the applications we see in the time it takes to coordinate interviews and narrowing down the field,” Hartzheim said. “But I would expect it to be at least a 60-day process. And, you know, we’re not going to rush into filling that seat if we’re not confident that the person that we have is the right person for the job. So we’ll take as long as we need to to make sure we have a good selection of candidates and that our final decision is one we’re comfortable with. But I would expect a minimum of 60 days to identify who the next chief will be.”

A special meeting of the board was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. to decide where to start in its search for the town’s next police chief. See the Tuesday, Nov. 19 edition of the Times for more on this story.

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].