Appleton twins begin careers as Neenah police officers, following path of their father
NEENAH - People who request to speak to Neenah police officer Sweeney will need to be more specific.
Asking for B. Sweeney — the name on his uniform — won't cut it, nor will describing him as a young officer.
Since late December, Neenah Police Department has had two Sweeney officers patrolling the city's streets: Brandon and Bryce. They are 21-year-old identical twins from Appleton.
Residents struggling to differentiate the two shouldn't feel too bad. Employees of the department haven't got it fully figured out, either.
"When we started off as community service aides, there was definitely a lot of confusion," Brandon told The Post-Crescent. "Now that we're here 12 hours in a single day, they're starting to get to know us more, but there's still a couple of stragglers who still don't know."
The duo have family ties to first responders. Their father, Jason Sweeney, is a field training officer with Hortonville Police Department. One of their uncles, Dave Vander Loop, worked as a police officer in Oshkosh until retirement. Another uncle, Todd Sweeney, is the assistant fire chief for Fox Crossing. An aunt, Laurie Sweeney, is a captain with the Shiocton Fire Department, and a cousin, Caitlin Sweeney, works part-time for Gold Cross Ambulance Service.
"It's kind of what our family is built to do," Bryce said. "Ever since we were little we would talk about it. For Halloween, we'd either dress up as soccer players or we'd dress up as officers. We fulfilled our dreams."
Interestingly, Neenah Police Chief Aaron Olson also is an identical twin. That connection, though, played no role in the hiring of Brandon and Bryce.
"We look for people with good character, and they're both young people with good character," Olson said. "That's what drew us to them. It's pretty neat that they're twins and work for the same police department, but obviously we wouldn't hire them just because they're twins."
Olson is aware of only one other set of twins working together in law enforcement: Patrol Lt. Nate Stetzer and School Resource Officer Nick Stetzer of the Wausau Police Department.
"There might be others; I just don't know of any," Olson said. "It is very unusual."
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Brandon and Bryce joined the Neenah Police Department in October 2020 as community service aides. They subsequently earned associate degrees in criminal justice from Fox Valley Technical College. Both said they foresee a long career with Neenah, but they are not a package deal.
Bryce said if Brandon were to take a job in Green Bay, for example, he would stay in Neenah. Brandon had the same response should Bryce move elsewhere.
"It is nice working with Bryce; there's no doubt about it," Brandon said. "But wherever he goes, I don't have to follow."
The twins didn't have a grand plan to choose the same career path or land at the same police department. It just worked out that way, and it's been like that for as long as they can remember.
They've consistently had the same friends. They've played the same sports. They've worked the same jobs.
"We've always got along," Bryce said. "We weren't those brothers who argue. We never really argue. We get along and figure everything out."
That doesn't mean they aren't competitive with one another. Whether at work or play, one is often trying to outdo the other.
The winner varies, they said, and the bragging rights last only until the next competition.
"It obviously makes us better in the long run because we know there's someone around the same skill level or knowledge to a subject," Bryce said.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Identical Appleton twins begin careers as Neenah police officers
