Lodi police lieutenant ‘very excited’ to take on new role
By Erik Buchinger
Craig Freitag was conditionally offered the position as Clintonville’s next police chief, and he has accepted.
The conditional offer requires medical and psychiatric evaluations, a drug test and an in-depth background investigation.
Freitag will succeed Jim Beggs, who retired as police chief last month.
The other finalists were Clintonville Police Department Captain Dennis Schroeder and Chris Hughes, the chief of police in the city of Brodhead.
Freitag is finishing up his time as a police lieutenant for the Lodi Police department, about 20 miles northwest of Madison.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet because I’m not there yet,” Freitag said. “There are a lot of things I want to get taken care of down here in Lodi before I come up that way, but I’m very excited.”
Freitag felt he was ready to lead a department from the top and searched for police chief jobs online when he found an opening in Clintonville. His wife, who is originally from Weyauwega, encouraged him to apply.
“I did my research of Clintonville and the police department and thought it would be a great opportunity,” Freitag said. “It’s a great department to join, and that’s why I applied.”
Freitag said he has no prior history of Clintonville other than driving through the city a few times. He visited Clintonville on a Saturday in February and spent approximately five hours looking at the city.
“After driving around, it got me even more excited seeing the whole city,” Freitag said.
Freitag participated in the police chief finalist meet and greet held on April 16.
“This was my first time doing a meet and greet, and I was very surprised with the turnout,” Freitag said. “There were a lot of city employees there, which means they care, and there were a lot of residents that showed up. It shows they care about the community, which is nice to see.”
Freitag said he decided he wanted to be involved in law enforcement when he attended Barneveld High School.
“Every kid goes through that phase of wanting to be a police officer,” Freitag said. “When I was young, it was something I thought of. As I got older and college was fast approaching, I needed to think about what I was going to do after college.”
In high school, Freitag did a research project on law enforcement and thought it would be an exciting profession to get into.
“I talked to officers around that area and picked their brains a little bit,” Freitag said. “I had gone on a few ride-alongs to get the exposure.”
Freitag received a phone call on his way home from work letting him know he would be conditionally offered the police chief position in Clintonville.
“To hear those words, it left me speechless,” Freitag said. “Not going to lie, I got pretty emotional. The consultant told me to hang up and contact my wife and to call him back to talk. That’s how I found out.”
In addition to working as a police officer, Freitag serves on the Randolph School Board and coaches youth football.
“The police department is my No. 1 commitment,” Freitag said. “It’s something new, and 100% of my effort needs to be in that. Within a year or two, I could see myself getting involved in the community or coaching football is something I want to do down the road.”
There is no definite start date, but Freitag said he will likely begin at the end of this month when he, his wife and two dogs move to the area.
“My wife and I are excited to move to Clintonville and very excited to learn more about the city and working with the great staff the police department has,” Freitag said. “I have a lot to learn about the city and can’t wait to see everybody working well together.”