Is the post of Madison Police Department spokesman supposed to be only a one year position?
The current spokesman, Joel DeSpain, has been doing it for much longer than a year. A: We asked DeSpain himself, a former television reporter, to tackle this one. DeSpain said when he became spokesman two and a half years ago, Chief Noble Wray changed the public information officer (PIO) position from a sworn officer to a civilian as “part of a policing trend to move officers into jobs for which they are trained.” DeSpain had worked at WISC-TV (Ch. 3) in Madison for 25 years. In the past, the department asked for a three-year commitment from officers but, said DeSpain, “The PIO job is one where there can be a good deal of burnout, and many in the past did cycle out after a year or two — often times because they were promoted.” As for how long he’ll be in the job, DeSpain said, “There really is nowhere else to place a civilian PIO within the MPD, so I am here for the foreseeable future.” — Dee J.