Mayor criticizes effort to repeal law cutting pay to officers and firefighters charged with crimes

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett sharply criticized an attempt by lawmakers to repeal a law that cuts off pay to police and firefighters charged with crimes.

Barrett also called the bill scheduled for a vote Tuesday by the state Assembly "an assault" on the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission because it would require two additional members who would be chosen from lists of five names supplied by the police and firefighter unions.

"They're trying to make us pay salaries of people who have been charged with crimes and it's got to stop," the mayor said Sunday afternoon at a news conference at City Hall.

Before the 2007 bill, Milwaukee firefighters and police officers accused of misconduct or charged with crimes continued to receive salaries, health benefits, vacation and time toward pensions until they were convicted or left the departments, said Barrett.

While he said Milwaukee police and firefighters perform difficult jobs under trying circumstances and the vast majority are decent and honest, a handful of "bad actors" have been charged with crimes and "milked the system" by refusing to quit until they were convicted.

Among them, the mayor said, were off-duty officers charged in the 2004 Frank Jude Jr. beating case. He also mentioned more recent cases of a police detective who punched a handcuffed suspect in the face, and a Milwaukee firefighter who pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography while on duty.

The mayor said the cost to city taxpayers from officers and firefighters accused of crimes was almost $3 million in 2017 dollars for the years 2005, '06 and '07.

Interim Police Chief Alfonso Morales noted that the Police Department accounts for a large portion of the city budget and "we need to be good stewards of that money."

"What's happened is representatives of (the police and fire unions) have tried to get the laws overturned and litigated in federal court and lost. So they went back to their friends in the Legislature and said, 'Get this law changed,'" said Barrett.

Bill author Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) said the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission would have 60 days to set a hearing date and 120 days for a resolution. During that time suspended officers and firefighters would continue to be paid. But their paychecks and benefits would stop if a judge finds probable cause a crime was committed or if they waive a preliminary hearing scheduled within 10 days of the filing of charges.

If officers and firefighters are later found not guilty, they would get their jobs and pay back. And if an officer or firefighter asks for an extension of the Fire and Police Commission hearing, their pay would stop, preventing them from gaming the system.

"This bill enforces a timeline, 120 days. The officer is not necessarily guilty until he’s proven guilty, so they should have a right to a fair process and the ability to have their side heard," said Wanggaard, who served almost 30 years as a Racine police officer and a decade on the Racine Police and Fire Commission.

The mayor said that under the proposal, the Fire and Police Commission members chosen from the lists of names from the firefighters and police unions wouldn't have to live in the city.

"So now you've got someone with no skin in the game because it's not going to affect their property taxes. Their allegiance is to the union and they'll be the ones on the panel. It's filled with conflicts," Barrett said.

A message left at the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association was not returned Sunday. Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello directed a reporter to the association's Facebook page, where he commented on the mayor's statements by saying the legislation would create a fair tribunal process with hearings held in a timely manner.

"It is truly unfortunate that the Mayor would misuse his position of Power & Authority to: mislead, misdirect … all bordering on misinformation akin to lies, in-order to maintain his absolute control over the" Fire and Police Commission, Crivello wrote on Facebook. The commission "is often the only place where citizens can be heard relative to MPD concerns."

Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls), a sponsor of the Assembly bill, said adding two people to the Fire and Police Commission who have backgrounds as police officers and firefighters is akin to peer review not unlike what happens in many professions including doctors and pilots.

The candidates for the commission would be retirees with at least 10 years in law enforcement or firefighting. It's possible commission candidates could have served with other departments, not just the city, and the bill sponsors hoped to draw people from a larger group from an area close to Milwaukee, Brandtjen said.

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"They would still be a minority on that board, but more importantly it would be people who walked in their shoes," said Brandtjen. "In this situation we certainly want officers and firefighters to be judged by their peers."