Wisconsin State Senator Van Wanggaard is a leader in Madison, but wasn’t always in politics. His first career was in law enforcement.
WTMJ’s Libby Collins talked with Senator Wanggaard not just about politics but how decades later, an experience as a police officer elicits strong emotions on this week’s episode of WTMJ Conversations.
Listen in the player above.
A portion of the conversation was transcribed below, courtesy of eCourt Reporters, Inc.
SENATOR VAN WANGGAARD: I can flashback on my first child death, and that was a crib death syndrome with a baby that was less than a year old. I had a baby at home that was only a couple years old, so you kind of associate that with that. And this mother couldn’t have done anything. I mean, that was crib death syndrome, they didn’t know that much about it back in the early ’70s.
And I remember responding to that call for service and spending — I was working third shift, I spent about an hour-and-a-half there. And I’m getting called on the radio to come get back on the road, I’m saying, “I’m 10-6, I’m busy,” you know. Finally, they sent a sergeant over, why was it taking me so long, well, the parents had a real challenge, so did I. I apologize, I’m choking up here a little bit, because it still hits me here. But those kinds of things, you never get rid of them, they’re still there, and you build off those things.