WI Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs named Director of Dane County Emergency Management

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced Tuesday that WI Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs has been selected as the new Director of Dane County Emergency Management. The announcement comes after several weeks of speculation that Chief Tubbs might step down as Chief after protecting the Capitol building, legislators, protesters and the general public throughout the Wisconsin Uprising of the last year.

WI Capitol police Chief Charles Tubbs named Dane County Director of Emergency management by County Executive Joe Parisi. Photo: Leslie Amsterdam

“I witnessed Chief Tubbs’ expertise first hand as he worked with hundreds of law enforcement officers, the public and elected officials, to successfully manage a potentially volatile situation,” said Parisi. “If the unthinkable were to happen, Chief Tubbs is the person that I want by my side helping respond to protect the citizens of Dane County.”

County Executive Parisi praised Tubbs’ effectiveness during the Uprising calling him “the calm in the middle of the storm”. Parisi added, “He kept the situation that over and over could have turned into something very ugly from doing so. He protected people’s right to assemble, and more importantly, he protected public safety.”

“I’m honored to be selected by County Executive Parisi to serve the great citizens of Dane County as the Emergency Management Director,” said Tubbs. “I pledge to the citizens that life safety and the protection of property will always be the number one priority of my staff .”

Chief Tubbs acknowledged his many years of experience in law enforcement and emergency preparedness, mentioning the “very humbling experience of being in the Washington DC area during the 911 attacks…very humbling, very educational, which taught me a lot about protecting and securing the lives of citizens and also taking care of property.”

Responding to questions about his career change and if the events of the last year played any role in his accepting the new position, Chief Tubbs was adamant, “ I’ve had a long time interest in emergency preparedness.…The previous experience at the Capitol, there’s no doubt about it,  that was a very  trying, very difficult time, but I think that we proved it so well to the rest of the world that there is a proper way of dealing with situations such as the Capitol and as a team, with these gentlemen behind me and some of you out in the audience, we were able to come together as a team and be able to provide the highest quality of service to our citizens by allowing them to exercise their rights, by allowing government to continue to run uninterrupted and to maintain a safe environment for people to come visit and entertain daily, day after day at the Capitol….I’m moving on, leaving, in my mind, the Capitol in a better place than it was a year ago.”

DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch issued a statement Tuesday thanking Chief Tubbs’  for his service to the state. Tubbs will stay on as Capitol Police chief until June 1. Chief Tubbs expects to have his contract approved by the Dane County board and begin his new assignment June 4th. There is no word yet on a possible replacement.