New UWPD chief Brent Plisch outlines leadership vision, department’s collaboration efforts

Brent Plisch, who has served as University of Wisconsin-Madison’s interim chief of police since February 2024, officially became UWPD’s new chief on Sunday, marking a career milestone as he celebrates 20 years with the department.

Plisch stepped into leadership following the resignation of former UWPD Chief Kristen Roman, who had led the department since 2017. Roman resigned from the position last year after an internal investigation found she violated multiple university policies, including parking violations and failure to report a romantic relationship with a subordinate.

“I’ve wanted to be a police chief for a while,” Plisch told The Daily Cardinal in an interview Wednesday, days before permanently shifting into the role. “When I took over, I knew I'd have to overcome some challenges in terms of the rockiness of that transition, and the circumstances that we as a department were given made it even more tumultuous.”

As interim chief, Plisch facilitated UWPD’s response to the pro-Palestine encampment on UW-Madison campus last spring, where 34 people were arrested. Campus faculty and students criticized UW-Madison administrators for involving police.

Despite these obstacles, Plisch said his time as interim chief solidified his belief that he was the right person to continue the job.

"I feel like we're moving in the right direction, both as an organization and as a community," he said. 

Re-imagining UWPD’s mission, community collaboration

Plisch said when he stepped into the role of interim chief last year, he began a process of re-imagining the mission, vision and values of the department. Through collaborative meetings with UWPD and community members, Plisch said the conversations created a current mission statement that “everyone had a say in.”

“It boils down to one thing for all of us — we're here to provide public safety to the UW-Madison campus,” he said. “I don’t see that changing. I think our mission needs to stay steadfast and focused on providing public safety for our campus.”

Plisch told the Cardinal his number one value as a longtime leader is taking care of people, and at UWPD, this extends beyond just enforcing the law. He prioritizes the well-being of his officers in all aspects, including their physical and mental health.

Plisch introduced more comprehensive mental health resources and support for UWPD families, according to the 2024 Annual UWPD Report.

“If we don't have healthy officers here, and not just physical health, but everything — financial, health, relationship health, mental health — all these things have to be combined so that we can put high quality officers on the street,” Plisch said.

Building trust with Madison community

One of Plisch’s top priorities during his time as chief is to facilitate trust and respect in the Madison community and build relationships with those UWPD serves.

“I plan to connect with all the shared governance groups and make UWPD a regular presenter at those meetings to talk about the initiatives, what we're seeing, crime trends on campus — so that our faculty, students and staff know what we're doing to protect them,” he said.

One of the biggest misconceptions about UWPD, according to Plisch, is that it’s solely responsible for campus safety. 

“When something's out of place, we require the participation of our community to call and let us know. We need our community to be active participants in public safety on campus,” he said, emphasizing that community members “know the spaces” better than UWPD ever will.

Plisch hopes that by connecting UWPD to the community and breaking down barriers between them, a mutual understanding and respect will come from connection. For instance, in September 2024, UWPD hosted its first open house, which aimed to build relationships between officers and the community.

"We can't do public safety on our own — we need our community, including students, to be involved," he said, adding that students are the true “eyes and ears” of campus.

Before becoming interim chief, he served as the assistant chief of police at UWPD, having wanted to work in law enforcement since childhood.

In college, Plisch studied sociology and joined ROTC, later deployed to Iraq in active combat. He served in multiple leadership roles, including United States Army captain. 

Campus law enforcement wasn’t initially part of his plan, but his sister, a conduct officer at a large Southern university, introduced him to the idea. He joined UWPD as an officer in 2005, later working as a K9 handler for seven years — a role he said he found deeply rewarding.

“What’s kept me at UWPD is the people here,” Plisch said. “There’s a real appreciation for all the unique things that go on in a campus environment, whether that's athletics, research or even protests. We really take our mission seriously, but we have fun doing what we do.”

When looking back on his two decades at UWPD, he said it’s not the promotions that stand out, but the moments when he learned he made a meaningful impact on someone’s life.

“Years, sometimes a decade later, I'm hearing feedback of ‘you helped me,’” he said, sharing that he recently received a card of congratulations from someone he helped 15 years ago, thanking him for stopping them from ending their life. “That’s what sticks out. This job should be all about helping people and getting them on the right track.”

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