Internal affairs investigation clears officer of wrongdoing

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- An officer with the Milwaukee Police Department accused of misconduct is cleared of any wrongdoing by MPD's Internal Affairs Division.

Documents supplied by MPD show that back on February 16th, a security guard indicated "he observed a money transaction at an ATM between a uniformed Milwaukee Police Officer and a male citizen" after the two exited a marked police squad. The incident was captured on surveillance video. To the security guard, this looked suspicious and was "evidence of Misconduct in Public Office."

"The FBI produced a copy of this video and gave it to the Milwaukee Police Department on February 27th and our investigation started the same day," said Police Chief Ed Flynn.

The internal investigation found the officer accused was actually assisting a citizen who had broken a window in a cab. The cab driver, who did not want to prosecute the citizen, indicated no complaint would be filed if he paid $300 to cover the damage to his cab. The police documents show the officer took the citizen to a nearby ATM and helped him obtain $300 in cash. When the officer and the citizen returned to the cab driver, the money was turned over to the cab driver.

"The only question before us based on the internal affairs based on the documents you have in front of you, is what do we think of the judgment that was exercised that night," said Flynn. "Did the officer behave legally? Did the officer behave responsibly? Did the officer behave honorably? Was the officer's actions ethically-based based on the facts and the concerns of the victim?"

The Internal Affairs documents "revealed no evidence of criminal misconduct" on the part of the officer. They indicate "the officer received nothing of value."

Chief Flynn said the officer did well resolving a conflict based on his ethics and good judgment rather than blindly following rules.