The Milwaukee Police Department is violating Wisconsin's open records law by withholding the indexes of internal investigations into allegations against an officer, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The suit claims the department, in citing the so-called balancing test for whether to release records, failed to consider the public's interest in evaluating how well the department runs its internal discipline process.
History has shown that allegations ruled unfounded by the department are sometimes part of a broader pattern that ultimately leads to criminal charges or investigations, as was the case with Steven Lelinski, now in prison for on-duty sexual assaults, or Ladmarald Cates, who is under investigation over an alleged on-duty rape of a woman who had called 911 for help last July.
The suit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court names the city and Police Chief Edward Flynn as defendants. The newspaper last year requested histories of disciplinary complaints and actions for two officers. The department removed references to any investigations that were deemed "not sustained, unfounded, or exonerated." Upon reconsideration, however, the department released the full history for one officer after concluding the information was "already in the public domain." The newspaper's lawsuit contends the police department's stated reason for denying the full index for the other officer is not specific to him but would apply to the disciplinary record of any member of the force.
"Only the Legislature can provide such a broad, categorical exemption to the Open Records Law's presumption of complete public access," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit asks that MPD be ordered to allow inspection of the complete discipline history of the specific officer, as well as pay the newspaper's legal fees.
"We've seen recent cases where internal investigations swept the disturbing histories of rogue officers under the rug," said George Stanley, managing editor of the Journal Sentinel. "The best way to ensure that the Police Department has procedures in place to protect the public is to let people see how they investigate complaints. Unfortunately, we once again have to sue the department to see these records." Assistant City Attorney Melanie Swank, who represents the police department in open records matters, said the city would reply to the suit in court, and declined further comment.
Copyright 2011, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)
Copyright, 2011, Journal Sentinel, All Rights Reserved.
