TMJ4 obtains Milwaukee County ‘Brady’ list after legal battle with DA’s office

MILWAUKEE — After threatening to take the District Attorney’s Office to court, TMJ4 has obtained a full copy of Milwaukee County’s “Brady” list.

The list contains nearly 200 officers – a majority (roughly 150) are from the Milwaukee Police Department.

The District Attorney’s Office finally released a complete copy of the list, which tracks problematic law enforcement officials, after denying multiple open record requests from TMJ4 this year.

TMJ4 battling Milwaukee County DA for keeping ‘Brady’ list secret

Officials finally produced the information after the news station hired an attorney and threatened to sue the county if it continued to keep the full “Brady” list a secret.

The station is currently reviewing the names and corresponding information and plans to publish the list in the coming weeks. In a letter outlining the release of its own “Brady” list, the District Attorney’s Office did not guarantee its accuracy.

“This office makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the record: all data should be confirmed by review of public records,” wrote Sara Sadowski, an Assistant District Attorney.”

The “Brady” list gets its name from a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case.

In 1964, the court ruled in Brady v. Maryland that officials can’t hide exculpatory information in criminal cases. It’s why many prosecutorial agencies keep “Brady” lists to track law enforcement officers with documented histories of dishonesty, criminal activity, bias, and other integrity concerns.

Milwaukee County’s “Brady” list includes 170 officers, who have either been charged or convicted in criminal cases.

But the list only includes a couple dozen entries tied to internal misconduct investigations.

Legal experts said that raises serious questions as to whether Milwaukee County has been keeping a legitimate and robust list.

Ghosted: Experts say TMJ4 reports raise serious accountability and transparency concerns

TMJ4 requested the “Brady” list as part of its “Ghosted” investigation.

The series involved a Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office deputy with a history of repeated misconduct, including five suspensions, records show. In 2016, the deputy was suspended for going to a Walgreens drunk and making “racially inflammatory remarks” to Black people.

Records show witnesses said he yelled “Why do Black lives matter?” and “You’re going to f***ing explain to me, just fess up for your people, what the f*** do I owe you people?”

The Sheriff’s Office told TMJ4 the deputy was not on the “Brady” list.

In a previous TMJ4 report, ACLU Wisconsin President William Sultan said that conduct should absolutely land on the “Brady” list.

“It also demonstrates a failure on the law enforcement agency to effectively discipline its employee,” he said. “I think we can all agree that people exhibiting racist behavior should no longer be police officers.”

Sultan believes the case also signals much bigger issues with how Milwaukee County tracks officers with integrity issues.

“It means there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of officers in our state that have demonstrated similar bias, untrustworthiness, that the public doesn’t know about,” he said.

[Editor’s note: Dave Biscobing is Chief Investigative Reporter for KNXV-TV (TMJ4’s sister station) in Phoenix, AZ and a corporate trainer for Scripps investigative news teams. For this story, he can be reached at David.Biscobing@TMJ4.com. TMJ4 Lighthouse Reporter Ben Jordan is also reporting on this issue and can be reached at Ben.Jordan@TMJ4.com. ]

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