Attorney representing two in MPD case confirms DA investigating

MILWAUKEE -- An attorney who represents two people who say they were victimized in a degrading and humiliating way by Milwaukee police officers arresting them confirmed Wednesday the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is conducting a John Doe investigation into possible criminal charges, has contacted the men he represents.

Seven Milwaukee police officers and a sergeant have been placed on desk duty, pending an internal MPD investigation, and now, the District Attorney's Office is conducting their own investigation.

The investigations stem from allegations the officers from the gang squad in MPD District 5 went too far, performing body cavity searches in public view on the street. These officers are being investigated by MPD's Professional Performance Division.

Attorney John Safran says within the past month, his clients were together in a vehicle, when police arrested them. The suspects say they were searched on the street, and were probed with a finger. One suspect spent five days in jail and the other, four days. No charges were ever filed before the two were released.

Safran says he hopes the district attorney brings criminal charges, not only against those who performed the searches, but those who saw them happen. "My concern, going back to the Jude case and other cases, is that I don't want this code of silence problem to come up again, and if there were officers involved that were not physically involved in doing things, but knew what was going on, they certainly had a duty to stop what was going on and a duty to report it," Safran said.

Safran says he hopes the police internal investigation does not stop during the criminal investigation, because that could delay the case.

The Milwaukee Police Association has nothing to add at this point. The Fire and Police Commission says since the allegations became public, two additional people have come forward with complaints against officers.

Previous stories:

Officers, supervisor investigated for possible policy violations

Chief Flynn addresses MPD internal investigation

Victim's family talks about MPD body cavity searches

District Attorney may be looking into claims against MPD officers