WISCONSIN LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPLORER ADVISOR ASSOCIATION
LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPLORING
This page was last updated: April 8, 2009
In 1990, Bill Hawley of Wisconsin Rapids Police Department, Jim Storney of Milwaukee Police Department, Charles Berard of Milwaukee Police Department and Steve Buck of Glendale Police Department created an association for police departments in the State of Wisconsin that had Police Explorer Posts. They wanted to create a forum for those officers and civilian advisors to come together as a group to discuss ways to better the Law Enforcement Exploring program within their departments and the state. They decided to name the association WISCONSIN LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPLORER ADVISOR ASSOCIATION (WLEEAA).
In the Spring of 1992, the first annual conference was held at the Howard Johnson in Wisconsin Dells, WI. It was a day and a half conference and was attended by 20 advisors and their wives. The first elections were held and Bill Hawley(WI Rapids) and Jim Storney(Milwaukee) were elected Co-Presidents and Steve Buck was elected as Vice President. At this conference, the membership decided to create By-Laws for the association.
In 1993, the By-Laws were created by Bill Hawley, Jim Storney, Steve Buck, Charles Berard. They requested the help of Harry Barger of Verona Police Department who was a member at large to also help. Those By-Laws(with a few minor changes) are the By-Laws that WLEEAA still uses today.
In 2008, WLEEAA was recognized by the National Office of Learning For Life as a certified association of Law Enforcement Exploring. We are 1 of 3 in the United States to be a recognized association.
WLEEAA has been growing since the Early 1990’s and has held the annual conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin Rapids and Wisconsin Dells. The membership has grown from a dozen members to over 40. WLEEAA has had some great leaders over the years including Mike Bagin of Hartland P.D., Mike Timm of Sun Prairie P.D., Mike Ramstack of Chenequa P.D., Steve Buck of Glendale P.D. to name a few.
WLEEAA has been a successful association over the past 18 years. The annual conference is a great way to come together and get the training and information needed to better our posts by learning from each other. We hope to continue this association for many more years and hope our Explorers come back and replace us as the future Explorer Advisors for departments around the state.
