Two new hires at SPPD fill vacancies

By Brandi Makuski

Stevens Point Police and Fire commissioners on Tuesday offered full-time jobs for two new hires at SPPD.

Tanner Lepinski, 22, and 21-year-old Joseph Clark have a tentative start date of June 20.

Clark is from Madison and studied environmental law at UW-Stevens Point. For the past 10 months, he’s worked as a sworn officer at UWSP Protective Services.

Lepinski is a 2014 graduate of Pacelli and works as a Community Service Officer for SPPD. For the past two years, he’s also volunteered on the dept’s auxiliary unit and has a criminal justice degree from Mid-State.

The two fill vacancies left by recent departures in the department, which has 44 sworn positions serving the city. One position became available when Sgt. Tony Babl left the department in April to take over as chief of UW-Stevens Point Protective Services, prompting a series of promotions and opening two patrol spots at SPPD.

The other vacancy was created by the departure of Officer Amy Kontos, who has taken a job at the Plover Police Department. She will be sworn in there later this month.