MILWAUKEE — Frustrations about transparency are growing after our special Lighthouse investigation, Duty to Disclose, reveals dozens of Brady list officers are being left in the dark.
"That's completely unacceptable for an officer to learn through a media story that they're on a list that may impact their ability to testify in court. That's severely problematic,” said Wisconsin Professional Police Association Executive Director Jim Palmer.
Do police officers deserve to know if they’re put on the Milwaukee County Brady list?
The question is being raised after our Lighthouse team learned that the two largest law enforcement agencies in the county don’t tell their officers if they’re placed on a list of cops with alleged credibility concerns.
Watch: MPD, MCSO say they don’t tell their officers if they’re put on the Brady list
The DA’s office wanted to keep the full Brady list a secret from the public until TMJ4 hired an attorney and the Wisconsin Department of Justice advised them that it is a public record.
The Wisconsin Professional Police Association says officers should learn that information from their department, not news reports.
“Do you think the police department should alert their officers that they’re on the Brady list?” reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"That's up to them to decide, ultimately,” District Attorney Kent Lovern replied. “They work for them."
DA Lovern says every time an officer is put on the Brady list, his office notifies their department.
During an interview with the top four Milwaukee County criminal justice system leaders in January, Sheriff Denita Ball and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said that information isn’t passed down to their officers.
"We don't ask about the Brady list, sir,” Chief Norman said.
191 officers are on Milwaukee County’s Brady list. It’s a record of current and former cops with credibility concerns due to allegations of past crimes, dishonesty, bias, or other integrity issues.
That information has to be disclosed to defense attorneys if they’re called to testify.
Between the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and the Milwaukee Police Department, the agencies said in January that two dozen of their current members are on the Brady list. 19 of them work for MPD, but Chief Norman said he doesn’t know who they are either.
"We don't know who's on the Brady list, but it doesn't take too much to understand who can potentially be on the Brady list,” Chief Norman said.
"Should you know who’s on the Brady list?” Jordan asked.
“No,” Chief Norman replied. “We have records, these are our own officers. We provide the DA's office with this information. And so it's not a surprise in regards to officers who have credibility issues."
"It becomes an unofficial blacklist and it's something that can create real reputational harm to an officer,” Palmer said.
We took Chief Norman’s response to the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. It represents 11,000 law enforcement members across the state.
“Chief Norman told us he doesn’t know who’s on the Brady list from his department. Is that acceptable?” Jordan asked.
"Of course not, no. It's not acceptable for any law enforcement administrator and it's not acceptable for the officers who might be on a list to not know that they're on a list."
Palmer says it isn’t just a problem in Milwaukee County. He hears about officers being left in the dark about their Brady status in counties across the state.
"We think there ought to be some uniform standards as to how these decisions are made and how these lists are maintained to the extent that they are maintained,” Palmer said. “We also believe that officers, there should be a requirement that they are notified and an officer should have some reasonable opportunity to contest that or to appeal that designation."
TMJ4 has already heard from several officers who learned from our reporting that they’re on the Brady list. Some told Jordan they’re now trying to contest that designation with the district attorney’s office.
If you want to see all of the current and former officers on Milwaukee County’s Brady list, our database in partnership with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Watch can be found below.
See all Duty to Disclose stories as they are posted here.
The Brady list is a compilation of current or former law enforcement officers deemed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office to have credibility issues. The underlying allegation can range from lying on exams to violent crimes. Just because an officer is on the list does not mean he or she was necessarily convicted or charged with a crime, or found guilty of internal misconduct. According to the office of District Attorney Kent Lovern, some cases may have resulted in an acquittal, been dismissed, or were amended to non-criminal offenses. The office says, "the database is accurate to the best of our knowledge as of February 27, 2025."
About this project
“Duty to Disclose” is a joint investigation by TMJ4, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Watch. The collaboration was prompted by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s decision in 2024 to release its “Brady List,” a closely-guarded list of law enforcement officers with alleged credibility issues, after pressure from the news organizations.
TMJ4 Lighthouse reporter Ben Jordan, Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Ashley Luthern and Wisconsin Watch investigative reporter Mario Koran spent four months verifying the hundreds of officers on the list, discovering that it is frequently incomplete and inconsistent.
Readers with tips about the Brady List are encouraged to contact reporter Ben Jordan at ben.jordan@tmj4.com.
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