The Police Advisory Council (PAC) supports an inclusive campus environment by serving as a connection between the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department (UWPD) and the campus community. UWPD is committed to this purpose and seeks to engage the UW-Madison community to gather input on matters pertaining to policing services and campus safety issues.
The PAC functions as a consultative council for the Chief of Police on various matters and concerns involving the UWPD and UW-Madison community and as a forum to review, discuss, and provide input on programs and projects to improve campus safety. The PAC makes recommendations to UWPD on promoting public awareness and equitable policing services that will provide a sense of personal safety among all UW-Madison community members. Further, the PAC advises the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration on issues
pertaining to the UWPD and campus safety. While individual members are free to engage in public advocacy on any issue, the PAC best serves its purpose through periodic, confidential dialog with the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration.
We are always open to reevaluating the PAC’s membership to ensure appropriate representation from around campus. If you are interested in attending a future PAC meeting, please contact us.
PAC Members
Haia Al Zein
Haia Al Zein is a junior at UW-Madison on the pre-law track, currently serving as the Internal Affairs Chair for the Associated Students of Madison. She cares deeply about supporting students and ensuring their voices are heard. By serving on this committee it is important to allow her as an advocate to convey students thoughts and concerns to the committee and vice versa.
Megan Dzyuba
Megan Dzyuba, JD is the Employment Relations Director (Institutional) at UW–Madison, where she oversees the Employment Relations, HR Compliance, Volunteer Management Services, Labor Relations, and Workplace Investigations programs. In this role, she serves as the institutional liaison and subject matter expert to campus leadership on employee relations matters, policy interpretation, and workplace issue resolution. Megan brings extensive experience in managing complex employment concerns, developing and auditing institutional policies, and ensuring compliance with organizational standards. As a member of the UW Police Advisory Council, she contributes her expertise in organizational systems and institutional governance to support the Council’s role as a consultative body to the Chief of Police and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. Her participation helps strengthen the connection between UWPD and the campus community and supports efforts to review and improve programs and services that promote campus safety.
Ben Fisher
Dr. Ben Fisher is an Associate Professor of Civil Society and Community Studies in the School of Human Ecology. His research focuses on school criminalization, which refers to the ways that the strategies, technologies, and logics of the criminal legal system appear in schools. He focuses on issues including police in schools, school discipline, and schools’ use of a variety of security measures. Much of his research in these areas addresses issues of racial equity with an eye toward making schools more just and equitable places for students.
Amy Free
A UW grad from a Badger family, Amy can barely remember a time in her life when the UW campus was not part of it. The perspective she brings to the UWPD PAC includes that of a team staff member, and a unique connection to the student lens from her role as a longtime student services provider.
Her career includes sign language interpreting for all types of academic, celebratory, and UW community events. She also enjoys teaching and mentoring, and working with the Deaf community beyond campus. Amy’s specific interests include the intersection of science and language usage, plain language accessibility, and ways to reduce access labor.
Brenda González
As Director of Community Relations at UW–Madison, Brenda González serves as the university’s primary liaison to community organizations, nonprofit partners, and local government, leading strategies that strengthen meaningful engagement and foster collaborative relationships across sectors. Her career spans roles as diversity manager at Agrace Hospice & Palliative Care, community and health equity manager at Group Health Cooperative of South-Central Wisconsin, and health equity career development program manager at UW–Madison’s Collaborative Center for Health Equity.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in social psychology from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco in Mexico City and has pursued graduate coursework in social innovation sustainability leadership at Edgewood College and in linguistics and communicative disorders at UW–Madison.
Sgt. Vinson Mulvey
Bio Coming Soon
Christina Olstad
Christina Olstad has served in various roles in student affairs and has over twenty-five years of experience in higher education administration, residential life and housing, student activities, and leadership development. Christina received undergraduate and master’s degrees in social work at Augsburg University and an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Vermont.
Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Christina served as the Interim Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. She held previous positions at Augsburg University, University of New England, University of Vermont, and Semester at Sea. Her academic interests include social justice education, developing intercultural competence, supporting students in recovery, financial literacy, crisis response and innovative approaches to retention and persistence to graduation. Outside of work she enjoys working out, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.
Chris Pahl
Chief Brent Plisch (Co-Chair)
Brent Plisch joined the UW-Madison Police Department in 2005 as a police officer, and has served in various roles with the department. He was named Chief of Police in March 2025, after serving as Interim Chief for over a year.
Prior to becoming chief, Plisch served as the Assistant Chief for Administration and Support, with leadership oversight of emergency management, access control and video systems, human resources, finances, IT, and professional standards. Plisch has previously held roles as administrative captain, detective lieutenant and sergeant, patrol sergeant, Explosive Detection K9 handler, field training officer, bike officer, and patrol officer on all three patrol shifts.
Plisch graduated from Winona State University with a B.S. in Sociology and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety School of Police Staff and Command. Plisch also completed the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police held at Boston University.
Prior to his public safety career, Plisch served as a captain in the US Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized). He served as a platoon leader, assistant operations officer, and a battalion staff officer. He served at Fort Carson, Colorado and completed a tour of duty in Iraq.
Dave Schroeder
Dave Schroeder is Director of National Security Initiatives for UW–Madison. Dave supports both the Vice Chancellor for Research and Vice Chancellor for University Relations to identify national security research opportunities and build strategic national security partnerships in Wisconsin and beyond. Dave also serves as the Research Director for the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium (WSRC), and as a Cyber Warfare Officer and Military Intelligence Officer in the Wisconsin National Guard. He previously served as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, and holds master’s degrees in Cybersecurity Policy and Information Warfare.
Madison Schwartz
Bio Coming Soon
Sgt. Ian Shaw
Sgt. Ian Shaw is a second shift (4pm-2am) patrol sergeant at UWPD. He has worked as a police officer in higher education for 13 years and specialize as an instructor in many different police training fields such as Firearms, Active killer, Defensive tactics, OWI, and De-escalation training (ICAT). He currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Dane County Restorative Court, he’s also a 2025-2026 fellow in New Blue, a cohort of public safety professionals and community members who collaboratively identify and change police practices which undermine community trust.
Alexandra Trebil
Alexandra Trebil is a senior at UW-Madison studying neurobiology and pursuing dental school. She currently serves as the President of the Panhellenic Association, one of four Fraternity and Sorority Life councils at UW-Madison. She also previously served as the Director of Recruitment Counselors for PHA. Because the council is comprised of about 3,400 members, she had the privilege of engaging with students who have many different experiences and backgrounds. This has been a huge benefit to her in learning about not only the PHA and FSL community but the broader community here in Madison and what it needs to thrive. Alexandra is very excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the UW-Madison Police Department in order to help students make the most of their time on campus, be successful, and of course stay safe.
Jake Wesson (Co-Chair)
Jake Wesson is an undergraduate at UW–Madison studying International Studies on the Global Security track with certificates in Public Policy and Criminal Justice. He serves as Anti-Violence Chair of the Associated Students of Madison and Co-Chair of the UWPD Police Advisory Council, where he focuses on building safer, more collaborative models of campus safety. His passion for community policing began in Minneapolis, where he co-produced an award-winning documentary on the future of public safety. In addition to other student involvements, Jake highlights his roles with BadgerEMS, a student-led emergency medical service, and The Daily Cardinal, where he covers public safety and politics. Jake is passionate about ensuring that every Badger feels safe and is eager to help shape the important conversations of the Police Advisory Council.