Smokin Moose
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. was rightfully angry the other day at officials who shrugged their shoulders after a felon on probation recently failed two drug tests. Clarke went so far as to call Judge Joe Donald "soft."
It was easy to identify with the tough-talking sheriff's frustration.
But now the question must be asked of Clarke: Why did he use such a light touch himself with a half-dozen deputies who violated department policy - and the U.S. Constitution - by entering an empty house without a warrant?
Recall that two of the deputies were less than honest about the improper search in their reports, and county prosecutors have said they won't use the pair on the stand again.
All six walked with nothing more than a written reprimand and some training on the Fourth Amendment.
"If you're going to fire every cop who violates the Constitution," Clarke explained, "we're not going to have many left."
Read that again. It's just a stunning admission for a guy who likes to talk about his high standards.
Back in April, Detective Luke Chang and Deputy JoAnn Donner turned up 44 1/2 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $30,000, in the trunk of an Oldsmobile Aurora that had been pulled over on I-94. Both guys in the car were arrested.
A few hours later, Chang, Donner and four others - Detectives William Theep, Outhith Latavong and Joel Streicher and Deputy Alex Martinez - went to the residence of one of the two men who had been arrested. According to a supplemental report released recently, the team found the back door unlocked.
"Several officers, while acting in the position of community caretakers, entered the rear door and conducted a protective sweep of the apartment," Theep wrote in a supplemental report written six days after the incident.
This information about the improper search was not mentioned at all in Theep's original report or the one written by Chang. Theep's original report has the group going into the apartment only after he gets the OK from a female resident, something that happened later.
Clarke has since rejected the deputies' claims that they acted as "community caretakers," meaning they didn't need a warrant because they thought someone inside might need their help.
The improper search led District Attorney John Chisholm's office to toss the entire matter. Not only did prosecutors decline to charge the men for what was eventually found at the house - some weed, a handgun and a shotgun - but also for the $30,000 worth of marijuana from the trunk of the Olds.
Clarke said the other day that he was disappointed with his deputies, acknowledging that several of them had been part of his elite targeted enforcement unit.
Certainly, the twice-elected sheriff hasn't minded lowering the boom in other cases. Just look at the growing list of deputies who have been reassigned, suspended or fired - and then sued the county.
But Clarke said he didn't bring the hammer down in this instance because, in his words, this was a mistake of the head, not the heart.
His point: The deputies aren't Keystone Cops - even if it might seem that way.
"These are good cops, not career criminals," Clarke said.
As for Chang and Theep, the two guys on the DA's do-not-use list, the sheriff said he has assigned one to the airport and the other to the jail. Neither will be allowed to work without a partner, he noted.
But that's not the end of it.
Clarke wanted to make clear that he wasn't happy with how Chisholm handled the case. Of course, he said, the two men in the Olds couldn't be charged criminally for the items found in the apartment. But he said a "more aggressive" prosecutor would have gone after them for all the dope in the car.
"He could have prosecuted the traffic stop, easily," Clarke said.
That may have been tough to do with cops who aren't going anywhere near a witness stand.
Chisholm said Wednesday that it would not have been ethical for him to bring any charges because Chang was involved in both the car bust and the improper search.
He said he had nothing against the deputies. When confronted, he said, they were open and honest in acknowledging that what they had done was wrong.
As for the written reprimands, Chisholm declined to say if those punishments were appropriate.
Likewise, he said the sheriff should keep his nose in his own business by trying to make sure his deputies are doing things in "the right way." In this instance, Chisholm said, that didn't happen.
"For him to try to deflect blame, which is what he is doing, is just improper," Chisholm said. "Take your lumps if your people do something wrong, acknowledge it, correct it and move on.
"That's what professionals are supposed to do."
The case may be closed and the punishments handed out. But it doesn't sound like this is the last we've heard of this debacle.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online -- Editorials
Website: JSOnline.com, Web site of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It was easy to identify with the tough-talking sheriff's frustration.
But now the question must be asked of Clarke: Why did he use such a light touch himself with a half-dozen deputies who violated department policy - and the U.S. Constitution - by entering an empty house without a warrant?
Recall that two of the deputies were less than honest about the improper search in their reports, and county prosecutors have said they won't use the pair on the stand again.
All six walked with nothing more than a written reprimand and some training on the Fourth Amendment.
"If you're going to fire every cop who violates the Constitution," Clarke explained, "we're not going to have many left."
Read that again. It's just a stunning admission for a guy who likes to talk about his high standards.
Back in April, Detective Luke Chang and Deputy JoAnn Donner turned up 44 1/2 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $30,000, in the trunk of an Oldsmobile Aurora that had been pulled over on I-94. Both guys in the car were arrested.
A few hours later, Chang, Donner and four others - Detectives William Theep, Outhith Latavong and Joel Streicher and Deputy Alex Martinez - went to the residence of one of the two men who had been arrested. According to a supplemental report released recently, the team found the back door unlocked.
"Several officers, while acting in the position of community caretakers, entered the rear door and conducted a protective sweep of the apartment," Theep wrote in a supplemental report written six days after the incident.
This information about the improper search was not mentioned at all in Theep's original report or the one written by Chang. Theep's original report has the group going into the apartment only after he gets the OK from a female resident, something that happened later.
Clarke has since rejected the deputies' claims that they acted as "community caretakers," meaning they didn't need a warrant because they thought someone inside might need their help.
The improper search led District Attorney John Chisholm's office to toss the entire matter. Not only did prosecutors decline to charge the men for what was eventually found at the house - some weed, a handgun and a shotgun - but also for the $30,000 worth of marijuana from the trunk of the Olds.
Clarke said the other day that he was disappointed with his deputies, acknowledging that several of them had been part of his elite targeted enforcement unit.
Certainly, the twice-elected sheriff hasn't minded lowering the boom in other cases. Just look at the growing list of deputies who have been reassigned, suspended or fired - and then sued the county.
But Clarke said he didn't bring the hammer down in this instance because, in his words, this was a mistake of the head, not the heart.
His point: The deputies aren't Keystone Cops - even if it might seem that way.
"These are good cops, not career criminals," Clarke said.
As for Chang and Theep, the two guys on the DA's do-not-use list, the sheriff said he has assigned one to the airport and the other to the jail. Neither will be allowed to work without a partner, he noted.
But that's not the end of it.
Clarke wanted to make clear that he wasn't happy with how Chisholm handled the case. Of course, he said, the two men in the Olds couldn't be charged criminally for the items found in the apartment. But he said a "more aggressive" prosecutor would have gone after them for all the dope in the car.
"He could have prosecuted the traffic stop, easily," Clarke said.
That may have been tough to do with cops who aren't going anywhere near a witness stand.
Chisholm said Wednesday that it would not have been ethical for him to bring any charges because Chang was involved in both the car bust and the improper search.
He said he had nothing against the deputies. When confronted, he said, they were open and honest in acknowledging that what they had done was wrong.
As for the written reprimands, Chisholm declined to say if those punishments were appropriate.
Likewise, he said the sheriff should keep his nose in his own business by trying to make sure his deputies are doing things in "the right way." In this instance, Chisholm said, that didn't happen.
"For him to try to deflect blame, which is what he is doing, is just improper," Chisholm said. "Take your lumps if your people do something wrong, acknowledge it, correct it and move on.
"That's what professionals are supposed to do."
The case may be closed and the punishments handed out. But it doesn't sound like this is the last we've heard of this debacle.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online -- Editorials
Website: JSOnline.com, Web site of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
