MILWAUKEE — What was once a mystery list of problematic cops is now at the center of a major project.
TMJ4 News is announcing a new partnership to highlight the issue of law enforcement members deemed uncredible.
Working with our partners at Wisconsin Watch and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we’re investigating Milwaukee County’s Brady list, which we recently obtained.
"We're doing this because we're bringing to light information that just has not been shared publicly,” said Jim Malewitz.
Malewitz is the managing editor at Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit news organization on a mission to fill accountability needs across the state. It has investigated Brady list cops elsewhere, but not in Milwaukee County until now.
“Why is it important for our viewers and for your readers to know more about this Brady list?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
Watch: TMJ4, media partners investigate newly-released Milwaukee County 'Brady list':
"Well, it's incredibly important when you talk about the central role police play in society,” Malewitz replied. “They're out there to keep us safe, and they also play a crucial role in the criminal justice system, and their testimony can end up with someone going to jail. So we know this is an important issue just for the fact that Brady lists exist.”
Brady lists exist because of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case dating back to 1964. In criminal cases, it requires prosecutors to disclose if officers have a history of past crimes, dishonesty, bias, or other integrity concerns. That information can’t be kept secret from the defense and the court.
Up until TMJ4 threatened to take the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office to court, it refused to share all of the current and former officers on the Brady list.
Last month, the DA finally released its full Brady list. It includes the names of officers charged with crimes and officers included for misconduct on the job.
"This isn't a story where we're trying to do gotcha journalism or anything like that; this really is about transparency and telling Milwaukee residents what they should know about the credibility of their police officers,” Malewitz said.
Now that we have the list, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Watch, and TMJ4 are currently reviewing the names and corresponding information.
"It's about 192 individuals,” Ashley Luthern said. “Some have multiple offenses listed in there, but that's a number that might seem large. We know there are thousands of law enforcement officers working across the county for various agencies — more than two dozen agencies. And so what stood out to me is it appears to be a relatively conservative list."
Luthern is an investigative reporter and editor at the Journal Sentinel. She’s spent more than a decade covering criminal justice and police misconduct in Milwaukee.
Luthern says this investigation is about more than just exposing who’s on the list, but perhaps who isn’t on the list despite documented credibility concerns.
"I think that's something our team, all of us together, are going to be looking into quite a bit — how are people placed on this list, how are police agencies fulfilling their obligations to tell prosecutors about officers with integrity allegations or problems with truthfulness, and then what is the district attorney's office doing to ensure that list is updated, current, and being given to the defense attorneys to ensure everyone has a fair trial,” she said.
We expect to eventually publish the full Brady list with context about why certain officers are on it. If you have a tip related to the Brady list or officer misconduct, email us at Ben.Jordan@tmj4.com, and we will share that information with our news partners.
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