MILWAUKEE – On the evening of July 21, 2019, a grey Infiniti sedan pulled to the curb in the northbound lanes of N. 27th Street, a couple steps north of W. Richardson Place.
Milwaukee Police officers stopped that car for speeding on a street where the limit is 30 miles per hour.
Body camera video obtained by the I-TEAM shows officers working what looks like a rather mundane traffic stop, though it is a stop that sheds light on how MPD handles the city's drivers with the worst records as repeat offenders.
After an officer approaches the rolled-down passenger side window, the man at the wheel is heard making his case – he was not going as fast as they thought.
"I was only going 40, 45," he said.
The officer takes his license, phone number and address, and promises to be right back.
"Give me a second, alright?" the officer asks.
Back in the squad car, the two officers making the stop would soon discover the 22-year-old man they pulled over had problems much greater than a heavy right foot.
It was the driver's 36th traffic stop since 2013.
It was the seventh time that driver was caught driving on a revoked license.
The driver is Montel L. Brown.
Montel Brown's driving record is not available for public review, not even by the news media through a public records request.
A federal law known as the Driver's Privacy Protection Act keeps the details of Brown's driving history secret.
The I-TEAM was able to reconstruct most of Brown's driving record through Milwaukee Municipal Court records, cases sent to circuit court and a computer system known as TRACS, which records all traffic stops across the state.
Between those local and state court files, Brown has 136 hits on his record for everything from illegal window tinting to operating while revoked.
In the city of Milwaukee, Brown is the worst traffic repeat offender in the last decade.
On the second floor of the Milwaukee Police Administration building, down a hallway and past the elevators, you'll find the courtroom of Municipal Judge Phil Chavez.
Chavez hears a variety of cases in his courtroom, but most have to do with traffic violations.
If the person issued a traffic citation wants to lobby for a lesser fine or fewer points on their license, they will likely wind up here.
Though Chavez said many simply pay the fine without putting up a fight.
In the cases where a traffic defendant wants to go to court, the case hinges on one thing: the ticket written by the officer who made the stop.
"I go based on the actual charging document and then we go from there. Whatever they write in the field, that's what I see and that's what I adjudicate," Chavez said.
Chavez has heard the critics who accuse Milwaukee judges of being soft, but when it comes to traffic stops, he said the officers in the field set the tone.
"I know officers have a lot of discretion when they're writing citations," Chavez said.
For example, Montel Brown's traffic stop in July, 2019.
The officer is seen on body camera running Brown's record.
Presumably, he can see the multiple prior offenses for speeding and driving without a valid license.
The printer in the squad car spits out two tickets, which the officer carries to Brown and hands over.
"You have two citations," he said. "One for suspended registration and no license."
That ticket for "no license" is for operating while revoked, first offense.
Because of his six prior offenses of driving while revoked, Brown could have been issued the maximum ticket. That would be OWR 4+, or operating while revoked, 4 or more offenses.
It's a ticket with a fine of $313.
But the officer wrote the minimum ticket with the minimum fine of $124.
In August, 2020, Brown was stopped again for speeding.
This time, 52 in a 30.
It's also his tenth offense for driving while revoked.
Body camera video makes it clear the officer making the stop can see just how bad Brown's record is.
"You are revoked because of your driving record. It's pretty awful, to be honest with you," the officer said.
Despite that, Brown is issued only one ticket – for speeding.
Mabel Lamb is executive director of the Sherman Park Community Association.
She has been fighting for years to make the city's streets safer from dangerous drivers.
That includes pushing for police to use the tools they have to hit repeat offenders with the charges they deserve.
"It's a little disheartening that the process isn't consistent, and that's what we're looking for," Lamb said.
It's not just Montel Brown getting breaks from MPD.
Paris Jackson has been stopped seven times for driving while revoked.
His last three tickets were all written as first offenses.
Elmonte Allen has 10 tickets for OWR.
He was written first-offense tickets until his eighth stop.
And again, on his ninth.
And back to OWR 4+ on the 10th.
The I-TEAM asked MPD to explain the inconsistency.
Why are multiple-offense-revoked drivers getting off with the lowest-level tickets?
We even sent them an emailed list of questions.
The department responded with a statement that reads, in part:
"We cannot speculate on each individual officers' decision as they have discretion to issue citations they deem necessary."
It continues, saying officers are certainly aware of a driver's complete record when they issue a ticket.
"Officers have access to query drivers' records prior to issuing a citation."
MPD Statement:
We cannot speculate on each individual officers’ decision as they have discretion to issue citations they deem necessary. Officers have access to query drivers’ records prior to issuing a citation. Things like procedural justice are considered when officers are making their decision. Our focus is to create safer streets by enforcement, education and engineering. Our enforcement strategy targets the most egregious drivers that are engaged in reckless driving. We created a new tow policy to combat reckless driving and filed civil suits against the most egregious reckless drivers. MPD is committed to working with our community to help build sustainable healthy neighborhoods, free of crime and maintained by positive relationships. To be part of the solution and report reckless driving visit mpdtsu.org
Things did change for Montel Brown in February, 2021.
When he was stopped near 84th and Burleigh Streets, MPD saw his record and handled it by the book.
This time, that meant a ride to the station in handcuffs.
"Did you know your driver's license is revoked," an officer asks after Brown is stopped for speeding.
"Yeah, I knew that," Brown replies.
What the officer said next changes this from the traffic stops Brown has come to know into a much more serious situation.
"Due to your OWI conviction," the officer said.
Brown protests.
"I ain't got no OWI conviction."
In July, 2020, Brown was cited for operating while intoxicated.
He was found guilty and had a new revocation added to his already revoked driving privileges.
Because his revocation was now connected to OWI, any future offense of driving while revoked would escalate from a traffic ticket to a criminal charge.
Which landed Brown in the back of a squad car.
In this instance, the officers saw Brown's record and wrote the charge that fit the offense.
Which begs the question: why not do this every time?
Judge Chavez said even if police treated these repeat offenders with a firmer hand, there is no guarantee the message will get through.
"That's the hope. That's the hope," he said. "But there are certain members of society you can't get through."
From the perspective of Mabel Lamb, letting little things slide is part of the reason Milwaukee has the big reckless driving problem we have today.
"Some of the driving-related issues all kind of go and – if you don't take care of the small stuff, it just grows and becomes a bigger issue,” she said.
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