UW-Madison statement

UW-Madison released the following statement to FOX 11 On Special Assignment regarding the bonuses awarded to two police detectives:

"Many factors were included in Chief Riseling's decision to award these amounts to these two Police Detectives.  Amongst the most substantial:

The university funded raises to people we deemed to be in the top 30% for performance.  Both of these Police Detectives were in that group.

Both of these Police Detectives are long-term employees with a lot of specialized training in things such as threat assessment and advanced criminal investigative techniques. Both have very marketable skills in the private or public sector.  

Neither of these Police Detectives has had raises since 2009.  Both are nearly $13,000 a year below the average for an average experienced Police Detective in Dane County.

Lump sum increases will not improve pay for future years.  If this had been a more meaningful hourly wage increase at this rate of $3.35 an hour, both of these Police Detectives would still be nearly $6000 below Dane County's average for an average experienced Police Detective, according to Wisconsin Dept. of Workforce Development statistics. And again, these are not average Police Detectives. They are the best we have."