There's no understanding why a cop would be abusive to a spouse. 'There's no understanding why a cop would drive drunk. employee who enforces the law than for a worker who cuts the grass,' Clarke said. 'There should be a higher standard for (an). Illegal conduct undermines officers' authority and erodes the public trust, he said. Clarke, who worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for 24 years. A woman who calls 911 in fear of her husband may be met by one of more than a dozen officers with a history of domestic violence.Ĭops who break the law should be fired, said Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. An intoxicated motorist may be stopped - or allowed to drive on - by one of more than 30 cops who have been arrested for drunken driving. What's more, no department policy prevents officers from enforcing the same laws they've been disciplined for breaking. The list doesn't include cops with juvenile records, arrests before they were hired or discipline under different department rules. It took the Journal Sentinel nearly two years of records requests, a court case and $7,500 in fees to compile the list of 93 - which is about 5% of the force. None of the agencies has a comprehensive list of cops who have broken the law.

Meanwhile, citizens have no way of knowing whether the officers responsible for protecting them have tarnished records. As a result, police who have crossed to the other side of the law keep the power that comes with the badge. The commission reduces punishments when officers break the rules. Prosecutors give cops career-saving deals. INTERACTIVE DATABASE: Search officers and their case histories The Police Department, district attorney's office and Fire and Police Commission share responsibility for keeping officers in line. His 13-year-old daughter told authorities Corbett took the wheel after she got lost driving back from a tavern. Convicted of driving drunk with a child in the car, Corbett did his job at the police station while on work release from jail. Corbett, was a police sergeant by day and an inmate by night. Yet when their criminal cases were concluded, they went back to their careers with the Milwaukee police. Nine of the 93 officers were convicted of crimes. Instead, he ended up with two tickets for disorderly conduct. A conviction on that charge could have gotten him fired from the department, banned from carrying a gun for life and imprisoned for 3½ years. One was Patrick Fuhrman, originally charged with a felony for a beating that sent his wife to the hospital and, according to a witness, left blood in every room of their house.

Twenty-three officers got breaks from prosecutors that allowed them to avoid being convicted of serious charges - or any charges at all - as long as they didn't commit more crimes and followed prosecutors' instructions. Another was Mark Kapusta, suspended after a woman said he pointed a gun at her head during a drunken road-rage incident. One was Reginald Hampton, accused of sexually assaulting two women he met on duty. Consider:Īt least six officers disciplined by the department for illegal behavior suffered no legal consequences whatsoever. Officers who run afoul of the law often aren't fired or prosecuted, the newspaper found. All still work for the Police Department, where they have the authority to make arrests, testify in court and patrol neighborhoods. Their offenses range from sexual assault and domestic violence to drunken driving and shoplifting, according to internal affairs records. Read part two and part three.Īt least 93 Milwaukee police officers - ranking from street cop to captain - have been disciplined for violating the laws and ordinances they were sworn to uphold, a Journal Sentinel investigation found. Editor's note: This report was originally published on Oct.

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