MILWAUKEE — Former Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales told WTMJ Radio on Tuesday he is "ready to come back to work" and said he even called the city this morning to get access to his old email account. But Morales seemed unsure if the city will reinstate him to police chief.
Morales was demoted to captain amid tensions with the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission last year. He then retired from the force and has since been fighting to get a settlement and his old job as police chief back.
Just last week, a Milwaukee judge ruled in Morales' favor by ordering the city to reinstate Morales to his former position - unless a settlement is reached. Milwaukee County Judge Chris Foley argued there was no due process when Morales was demoted. Foley ruled the city has 45 days to negotiate a settlement.
Morales' interview Tuesday evening on Wisconsin's Afternoon News with John Mercure on Newsradio 620 WTMJ is the first time Morales has spoken publicly since last week's ruling.
While Morales did not shed any light on how the city might respond to the ruling, he said he is eager to resume leading Wisconsin's largest police department. And he focused on what he calls injustice displayed on the part of the city towards him.
"If that's the card they want to play, I'm ready to come back. It has to be done. I don't know if they realize what they have done. My biggest thing is why has the city taken this stance. Especially during a time when civil rights is a hot topic. And the city has taken this stance towards me, it's just distasteful at the minimum," Morales said.
Morales also described his dismissal as part of a backlash against police.
"This was a national movement to really attack law enforcement and put law enforcement back," Morales said.
"They basically took me out of the position of office and shot me," Morales said of the FPC's decision to demote him.
Nathaniel Cade, the attorney representing the City of Milwaukee and the Fire and Police Commission, said before Foley's court last week that "We agreed there was not due process. He's now said 'I'm done I don't want to serve as captain. I don't want to deal with the city of Milwaukee.' You don't get to after the fact say 'I've changed my mind.'"
The FPC has put on hold its search for a new police chief. In two votes, the commission was gridlocked between the two top candidates, Hoyt Mahaley and Malik Aziz.
Jeffrey Norman was named Acting Police Chief last December when former Acting Police Chief Michael Brunson Sr. retired from the police department.
