I am a Deputy Sheriff and a proud wearer of the Police Officer badge. As I sit in the trenches day after day, I must deal with the uncertainty of what has become of my vocation, a burning passion, and my life.

As a member of law enforcement, like the military to a certain extent, we follow a chain of command. Here in Milwaukee County we look to you as our leader.

Day after day, I hear you being maligned by my co-workers, members of the press, and other members of the government, to name a few. I hear stories of corruption, self service, ego driven decisions, and double standards. I witness morale crumbling to the ground and I can see it in the eyes of my fellow officers that they are losing the faith. The flame is dwindling.

When I chose to be police officer, I was proud. Boy was I proud! I was proud that I chose a life of servitude for my fellow citizens. I looked up to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct, and I beamed with pride thinking of the many ways in which I would honor those principles and make the community a better place to live. I dreamt of earning a reputation as a fair, honest, disciplined and ethical individual who, even when I made mistakes, stood for everything that it’s right in this great country of ours.

These days, however, I find myself being embarrassed and deflated. I continually encounter walls placed there in an effort to make my job more difficult. I expected that, but I did not expect those walls to come from within my own Department. I’m no longer allowed to use discretion and all my powers to do the right thing have been slowly stripped away from me. I find myself being worried and sometimes scared of taking part, for fear of choosing a direction which will penalize me in the eyes of my superiors. I feel as though I am no longer a Police Officer. I now feel like a pawn in some sort of cruel political game that I do not understand. I find myself in the middle of stubborn fights between my leader and my brotherhood, and there seem to be no end in sight. I don’t even know who is right or wrong anymore. That ceased to matter a long time ago.

Dear Sir, I plead to you, enough with the games, contradictions, and reprehensible essays. Enough with the name calling, persecution, and partiality. We have an important job to do, and every day we seem to move farther away from accomplishing that job the way it was intended. I wish to be treated like you would like to be treated, I have earned that. I realize that there will always be a small percentage of us who will never live up to the standards, and who will always cut corners and find blame on everyone but themselves when things go wrong. I also believe that that group does not a majority make and I am insulted when I am talked to as part of that group. If in the process of exposing those who do not deserve to wear the badge, you alienate and disempowered those of us who do, then you have failed us all.

Dear Sheriff, and I address you by your title with all respect due your position, what can we do, together, so that once more I can be proud to represent the law and wear the badge that I chose to honor when a took my oath? I do not care about promotions, recognition, or awards. All the recognition I need I get from my fellow citizens when I have helped them in their hour of need. I get it from my family when they see me beam with pride as I leave for work every day. I get it from my peers when they recognize a job well done.

Sheriff, I need a leader. I need someone who will give me some direction and supply me with the tools I need to do the job efficiently and well. I need my leader to lead, by his behavior as well as words. I need a leader who remembers what it was to be a young Police Officer devoid of any cynicism and unethical thoughts. I need you, to remember the time when the only thing that mattered was the community’s well being and the well being of your people so that we could complete our task successfully. I need to know that you will deal with me swiftly when I don’t live up to my standards but will stand by me when I’ve being wronged.

I need you, Dear Sheriff, to come out from behind the mask from whence you’ve been hiding and develop into the leader that you showed us many years ago when you first joined our organization. I believe you can do that, I believe that deep down your ultimate goal is the betterment of the community, just like me. I need a leader.

With Regards,
A Deputy
“Attitude is Everything”

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Typically Watchdog Milwaukee is directly critical of Sheriff Clarke for the way he handles his job. For now, we’ll refrain from elaborating (that’s what the archives are for). The deputy who wrote this piece clearly isn’t to the point where he’s written Clarke off but we believe the decision as to whether that will happen or not is up to none other than the Sheriff. All the same, the Deputy does not want his name shared as he has seen what has happened to other Deputies that have dared to criticize Clarke. Since Clarke is capricious and has shown a pattern of vindictiveness, we do not share the names of officers who could lose their jobs or face demotions and disciplinary action for voicing their opinions. Before commenting on this story, reader are asked to read the updates to the comment policy available at the top of this page.

What you probably have not seen is Sheriff “King David” Clarke’s response to this article. It was bad enough that in the article he is quoted as calling those involved “dumb”, in his latest message to the troops, read aloud in roll call the last few days, he calls the deputies “losers” FOUR times. How’s THAT for great leadership technique? I bet he learned that at the seminar he once attended at Harvard. You know, the one where he picked up the Harvard ring he has been seen sporting? It goes so well with his cowboy boots and spurs.

I digress. Back to the letter. It begins, “It has been intimated by a union official,[sic] that a malfunctioning machine was the culprit in a jail inmate being improperly released from custody. You show me someone who believes this, and I’ll show you a loser.” He goes on to say “Losers always find an excuse for why a job didn’t get done correctly.” Now the funniest thing about this statement is that it and the next sentence were said by a man who has spent his time in office blaming previous administrations for the current woes of the department. “I don’t make excuses for failure.” Yeah, right, David. The letter goes on with more of his “pearls of wisdom” and more motivational sentences, such as “What we need less of are losers who want to blame inanimate objects when things go wrong.”

I have spent over 20 years working for some pretty amazing leaders. Some of them have really accomplished great things. They have all taught me a lot about leadership, and I use their teachings daily. One thing I know for sure, a good leader never belittles or ridicules his or her troops. A leader never shirks blame or points fingers. One of my favorite leadership books, “From Good to Great“, by Jim Collins, is considered a “bible” on great leadership by some of the most successful organizations in this country. In “Good to Great”, Collins lays out that a great leader takes none of the credit and all of the blame. This seems to be a polar opposite of King David’s leadership style, which consists of hogging the spotlight when things are looking good, and backing away, hands in a “it wasn’t me” pose when things go bad.

His megalomaniac style is not just seen as he “motivates” the department. It is also seen in his callous disregard for court- or arbitrator-ordered actions. He costs the county money in lawsuits on a regular basis, such as the suit regarding deputies sick time policy, which he has violated, and the recent case involving bringing Christian religious speakers into the department’s mandatory roll call. When will the public realize this man should not be leading this department? What will it take for Milwaukee to wake up and insist on change? We need someone in that office who truly wants to make Milwaukee County a better place to live, not someone who wants his ego stroked on a daily basis. We don’t need Wyatt Earp in boots and spurs leading the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department–the Old West is long gone in these parts. What we need is a leader, someone who cares more for the department than him or herself, someone who cares more for the greatness of the County than their own personal greatness.

Read the letter and weep.
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Note: Click here for the full size image

Somehow,this news wasn’t released via ‘press release’ from the sheriff’s office. This is just another example of how Sheriff David Clarke protects his correctional officers. Unfortunately he treats his deputies as scapegoats.

The CO is being held in Waukesha’s county jail on ten thousand dollars cash bail.

The king,without much thought, started hiring corrections officers to replace deputies in the jail. I didn’t care, really deputy-Co who cares really, it’s a shitty job but someone has to do it. Recently, a trend has been uncovered that is alarming to the deputies. When a deputy violates policy they are disciplined. Either verbally warned or more commonly, suspended without pay. A deputy was involved in a case where a misunderstanding in commitment verbage cost them a few days off. I’m ok with that , this officer caught time for a similar offense. The problem- a corrections officer violated the same policy and made the same mistakes and received… NOTHING. Interesting,

A few weeks ago there were two deaths in custody. In the first case the person assigned to the post was immediately suspended and is pending termination. In the second case the person assigned to the post was reassigned to a different post. Which do you suppose was the deputy? Righto! The first was a deputy. Now, I step onto my soap box and preach all the time about how unfair the king is. Most of the time is pure rant. Dear readers this time it’s pure facts. The cases involving deputies are internal affairs cases and the corrections officer got nothing. That just doesn’t seem like a fair work practice, right? I’ve been told by a deputy, of a story that was heard from a supervisor in the jail. The supervisor is in charge of the co’s and deputies but isn’t a seargent. This supervisor went to inspector schmidt and asked about multiple co’s he was having problems with. He had sent paperwork on the problem co’s to schmidt and internal affairs in the past with no response. So he went to talk to schmidt and ask why nothing has come of his formal complaints regarding the co’s. That’s when it happened, the million dollar question was asked, ” Is it safe to say that anything the sheriff has his hand in is {untouchable}?” The response from schmidt was, “It’s safe to say that.” So, the corrections officer program is untouchable and if they let a murderer walk out the door, it’s ok, they’re co’s. The co program WILL succeed, no matter what.

Now that I got that out, here’s the meat of my article this time. This is an interesting case that CAN be backed by internal affairs paperwork. So call and request it, they won’t allow it’s release, but hey it would be fun if you called them. Ok, the story:

In June (say around, or MAYBE on the 17th) a vehicle was stopped for failing to move over or slow down when passing a squad in emergency mode on a traffic stop. The operator, a black man, passenger a black female; the deputy a white man. Per the internal affairs paperwork the black female took offense to being stopped and told the deputy he was racially profiling his stops. According to the papers the deputy tried to explain the move over law and why it’s important. The citizens wanted nothing to do with the deputies explaination. An internal affairs case followed the issuance of a citation for failing to move over (346.072(1)(a) of wisconsin state statutes. The complaint cited the officers profiling activity and demeaning manner in which he talked to the citizen. Now, I’m no fan of the deputy involved, but a racist? No sorry, i have never detected that type of demeanor from the deputy. Now hold on reader… it’s gets a bit better. Internal affairs contacts other people stopped by the officer that night and asks them if they felt the deputy was profiling or was demeaning in his interactions with them. Each one of them backed the deputies version. All six of them. So for once internal affairs does the right thing and clears the deputy of any wrong doing. The results go back to clarke… who effectively reopens the case and gives the deputy one day off. What? How can that be deputy insider? The deputy was cleared by internal affairs right? Ah-ha here’s the beef. The operator stopped is a relative of a milwaukee alderman and I’d hate to say ‘friend’ so maybe associate of clarke is better. So, could I argue that clarke, a black man discriminated against this white deputy cleared of any wrong doing? Could I argue that because the violator is black, the alderman is black and the sheriff is black that the deputy was unjustly disciplined? I think i can. I think I can also argue that clarke most certainly let policy and facts fly out the window to satisfy a grudge held by a relative of a city of milwaukee alderman.

Can I call clarke racist? Would you if it were the other way around?

Funny thing though, we DO have ‘ Performance Standards.’ There IS a ‘wall of shame’ on the wall of the patrol division, run by Capt. R. Richards, that lists the NUMBER of TICKETS each deputies writes. Now don’t be misled, the list is there to show who ISN’T writing tickets, not to honor those that are. The wall of shame is broken down into categories such as speeding and OAR (Operating After Revocation). A few deputies top this list with less than 50 tickets written in three weeks. That could be because they are responding to abandoned vehicles, accidents, disabled vehicles, animals in traffic or doing something OTHER than running laser and citing tax paying citizens for speeding. More on that in a minute. These few ‘malcontents’ and ‘rebels’ are doing their jobs protecting and responding to your calls on our freeway system. They are NOT sitting in a hiding spot waiting to nab you for speeding. Which brings me to those few deputies that are writing close to 100 tickets in less than 3 weeks time. You have to ask yourself, what else are they doing? What are your tax dollars paying for?

Of those 100 tickets by one deputy, they can be broken down into one category, Speeding. Now, I know a little about how things work in the real world. In Milwaukee, for every 5 speeding tickets you write you are bound to write at least one OAR (operating after revocation) or arrest at least one person for a warrant with one of the many municipalities within the county. Yet, to my surprise, this deputy didn’t write one OAR or arrest anyone on warrants. How can that be deputy insider? Well, that mean this deputy is focused on writing tickets and not arresting anyone. So you’re probably asking yourself, isn’t that wrong deputy insider? Why yes. Yes it is.

By not checking driver license records during traffic stops this deputy is actually violating a patrol policy. Do the supervisors know? Why yes, they would have to know, they are in fact supervisors right? Deputies have discretion, that means they can choose to NOT write a ticket just as much as they can choose to write it. This deputy has chosen to write every speeding ticket he can. What does that mean to you, if he stops you, you ARE getting a ticket.

Back to the quota matter, Capt. R Richards preaches performance standards. That translates into how many tickets a deputy can write. Here’s the skinny on that. Deputies that are not writing a 100 tickets in 3 weeks are being called in to the supervisors office and asked if “there are any problems.” When asked what that meant, the supervisors refer to the deputies ticket writing. In return the deputies are asking the supervisors if there is a quota. “Of course not, we don’t have quotas” is the uneasy response from the supervisors. Four deputies were transferred from patrol to detention for ‘performance’ issues. There was a common thread with each and every one of them. None of them met the “performance standard” of writing 100 plus tickets in three weeks.

So, dear tax payer, although Capt. R Richards will tell you there is no such thing as a quota for patrol deputies, there are Performance Standards. Figure this: 100 tickets in three weeks by 6 deputies a shift by 3 shifts equals a lot of tickets. This also takes away the chance that if stopped, you might not get a ticket. Four deputies were punished because they chose NOT to write you a ticket.

Naughty, naughty deputies.

Do you find yourself having to run into work early to get a few extra things done? Do you have to be on the freeway from 4am until 7am?

If so, your life could be in danger.

In Milwaukee County, a county with nearly a million people, there are only two deputies on the freeways between the hours of 4am and 7am. Two.

What would make Clarke do such a thing? Yes, the bars close by 2:30 so most of the people who are really intoxicated have already driven home by 3:30, but what about the people who went out to grab a bite after the bars closed? They’re getting in their cars for the drive home at the same time that the night shift deputies are punching out.

But Clarke wouldn’t do that right? He’s the Sheriff and he wouldn’t risk the lives of the public, would he? Unfortunately the answer to that question is yes. Now I can understand putting fewer cops on the road on weeknights but light coverage on Friday and Saturday is simply irresponsible. While Clarke would claim that there are really four squads (not two), he would be exaggerating coverage since two squads stay on the county grounds unless they are called on to assist deputies already on the road.

This is a ticking time bomb. It’s not if, but when, someone will get hurt or killed. This is a problem that could be prevented.

You would think that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) would be all over this issue but so far, there hasn’t been a peep.

Historically, transfers within the Sheriff’s Department have been used to fill vacancies in bureaus, punish the ‘malcontents’ and fill the cushy jobs with deputies from the ‘golden friends’ list. It has been the springboard for the ‘good ole boy system’ — the very system Clarke publicly stated he personally would get rid off.

Now that, my friends, is something I am left waiting for. Unfortunately, like so many of Clarke’s other promises, this too was just a smoke and mirrors promise. I understand the ‘good ole boy’ system, it’s been apart of MCSD for a long long time. My failure to participate in it is a big reason I have worked the assignments I have. Unlike some, I refuse to sell my soul for the minor pleasure of a ‘nice assignment.’ Back to the task at hand, this new list was ALMOST business as usual. There is one name on that transfer list that made me call a few others to try to find the link to the ‘NEW good ole boys.’

It seems that line has been drawn, it appears a deputy can solicit an undercover Milwaukee police officer, plead ‘no contest’ to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct, serve a few months of ‘jail duty’ and STILL be golden enough to be transferred to a nice assignment.

Ok,what’s my point?

Clarke promised to get rid of the ‘good ol boy’ system. He has removed THAT system and developed the new system ‘State of Clarke’. This new one ignores those that just do their jobs and selects those that back, fund, support and/or volunteer for the betterment of the Sheriff himself. Oh No! That’s what the Good Ol Boy system was! Could I have been mislead? Could that ‘promise’ have been a lie? No, no, folks just business as usual for our Milwaukee County Sheriff.

Multiple Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department insiders contact me about various stories and I consider it an honor that they put so much trust in me but that honor comes with a responsibility to keep their identities safe so they will not lose their jobs.

The story below is from one of my sources that has information from inside the department.

The Sheriff has almost completed his switch over from the 7 point star to his favorite which he reputed to have a tattoo of , the 5 point star. Most vehicles, letter head, anything Department related, and the Deputies will now be sporting this new badge

Did I say Department, I’m sorry he changed that too… it’s the Sheriff’s OFFICE

What is the monetary cost to tax payers to do this for no other reason
other than for Sheriff Clarke to leave his mark upon the department?

Was there this urgent need to spend tax dollars to do this???? Should the department have two different badges if anything, only to distinguish between CO’s and Deputies.

The 5 point for the Deputy Sheriff Correctional Officers while the 7 point is traditionally for Law Enforcement certified officers and the Department

What do you think?

Note: Clarke does have a tattoo on his right upper arm of the 5 pointed star. You can catch a copy of the image here.

Case 1: off duty deputy solicits an undercover MPD officer for sex, gets arrested. This is a misdemeanor violation of the law.

Case 2: Deputies confiscate a ‘ton’ of drugs from a car on the freeway (Clarke makes a great press conference out of it) Same officers illegally enter and search a home related to the drug bust (their sergeant knows about it). Officers then write less than honest reports about incident.
This is a clear cut violation of Civil Rights and it tainted the whole case. Officers were not allowed to testify in court and the bad guys got off.

Case 3: Deputy does not notify supervisor about a packet of paperwork that needs verification of terms from a court that is closed for the weekend. (Note, it is not departmental policy to notify the supervisor.) However, the deputy did notify the next shift during debriefing (which IS policy). Paperwork is about an inmates release date and only the court can verify the terms…court opens Monday. No policies were violated.

Case 4- A Deputy calls in sick three times in one year. Although CONTRACTUAL agreement states a deputy is allowed 3 sick occurrences, Clarke has taken it upon himself to CHANGE the contract to making the 2nd sick day a write up and the third an internal affairs case. While this is not a violation of the deputy contract, it is now Clarke’s new policy

Now the fun part, the interactive portion of my story.. you get to pick the discipline each case received. Remember two of these people violated the LAW, one violated a new policy that violates the deputies contract with the county and the fourth didn’t actually violate any policy.

Discipline issued to the four cases:

A- a three (3) day suspension (stays in personnel file)
B- a one (1-5) day(s) suspension (stays in personnel file)
C- a seven (10) day suspension and transfer to the jail (although not for discipline because Clarke says the jail isn’t for disciplining deputies!?) and stays in personnel file
D- a six (6) month probation period/ written reprimand and transfer to the jail( see above comment) to include removal of the reprimand after the 6 month probation period.

Scroll down a bit for the answers.

Here was the discipline that Clarke handed out.
Case 1-C
case 2-D
case 3 A
case 4-B

Is there logic here? Deputies are sworn to uphold the law and yet under Clarke, if you violate state law and disregard the civil rights of the citizens you’re going to get a hand slapping. However, if you violate a precious departmental policy and “Hell hath no fury like a David Clarke scorned.”

The saddest part about this whole story is that internal affairs doesn’t even have to have proof you did anything wrong… that’s right… all they need is a suspicion. Numerous cases have been given discipline WITHOUT proving guilt. Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve heard coming from a law enforcement agency?

Publishers Note: It is not the policy of Watchdog Milwaukee to permit anonymous postings. However, when there is clearly a likelihood that there will be personal ramifications, we will protect the identity of our contributing writers. Since Sheriff David Clarke has shown a clear pattern of vindictive behavior against those who do not subscribe to his political philosophies and motivations, we are sure that Clarke would take action against any deputy or member of a deputy’s family should their identity be compromised. That being said, several sources have come forward to us now and in the past to request we expose some of these problems within the department. Since the corporate media has chosen to give Clarke a pass on his egregious behavior and thereby failed in their duties as a watchdog, we are taking the opportunity to do what they should have done in the first place — bring to light a story which has long been kept from the public. The man who inspired Watchdog Milwaukee, legendary news man Edward R. Murrow, would have wanted nothing less.

When MPD Chief Nan Hegerty threw the hooker bomb at a news conference Thursday, the obvious implication was that Sheriff David Clarke is mismanaging the jail (the Watchdog faithful will be familiar with Gretchen Schuldt‘s reporting last year on some of the problems at the jail.)

But yesterday’s big story said more about Chief Hegerty than it did about Sheriff Dave: By blaming Clarke for preventing her business-as-usual policing strategies, Hegerty managed to show again that she has never had a plan to help make Milwaukee a safer place. The stated purpose of Hegerty’s press conference, by the way, was to tell the media how she intended to use all of those new police officers city taxpayers anted up for in the last city budget. Here’s the so-called plan to fight violent crime, folks, as we see it:

“More patrols. That’s right, more patrols in violent crime areas. Oh, and by the way, we tried to lock up a hundred or so nonviolent prostitutes the other day … but we were unable to make reservations at the jail.” (Apparently, the chief called ahead.)

Shift camera to Sheriff Dave, who explained that there was a backlog in the booking area (the source of many a jail management problem) for a couple of hours on the day in question, but that everyone who needed a room eventually managed to find an available bed in a pod. His operative metaphor is long lines at the grocery store.

Clarke then correctly pointed out that the chief (and by proxy Mayor Tom Barrett) were taking a political jab at his highness for backing, if not instigating, south side Ald. Bob Donovan’s whacky crime-stopping plan, which included Clarke’s pet idea to take sheriff’s deputies off the freeways and put them on street patrol in Milwaukee.

Nobody mentioned that one of Hegerty’s first big ideas as police chief was to round up all the prostitutes she could find. It cost county taxpayers $45,000-plus to pay for their room and board. Most were released within a day or two and went right back to doing what they were doing before they were swept up by Hegerty’s gendarmes.

Barrett announced last month that the city will embark on a study to provide some direction into better law enforcement strategies. Barrett now has a chance to renew the task force work of the late 1990′s, which was blinded by the Norquist administration nearly seven years ago. The task force stemmed from criminal justice summits held by Judge Patrick Sheedy, was led by District Attorney E. Michael McCann and included metro police and the Sheriff’s Department, Dept. of Corrections officials, criminal justice reform and community advocates. It was an attempt to bring together the disparate players of the criminal justice and law enforcement communities to find some effective, cooperative community corrections/policing strategies — in the face of the city of Milwaukee’s resistance to community policing strategies.

The differences this time are: 1) Barrett is mayor; 2) This study group will ostensibly look more specifically at policing strategies; and 3) Barrett is preparing to hire a new police chief. In any case, cooperation from all of the players in law enforcement and criminal justice will be necessary for any effective strategies to emerge.

Hegerty exploited the serious and troubling rise of violent crime in the city this week to point the finger at Clarke, to imply, “manage your jail and I might be able to do my job.” This is counterproductive, obviously. Clarke is known more for grandstanding and pointing fingers than working with others, but he did no real harm in backing some ideas from a city alderman (Bob Donovan). Hegerty only gave Clarke an opportunity to show that he’s, at very least, a better politician than she is.

It’s not as though Hegerty has any better ideas. But let’s hope Barrett eventually does. They are long overdue. So is some cooperation from our local law enforcement agencies.

Note: For more on MPD prostitution stings and their (negative) impact, see the Benedict Center web site. The Benedict Center is a local nonprofit criminal justice reform agency that runs a nationally-reknowned Womens Harm Reduction program.

“I think we can cooperate better as law enforcement agencies,” Holt said in a telephone interview days before the Nov. 7 election. “That’s what I mean when I say I’m a uniter not a divider. I don’t believe in pointing fingers. I believe in taking care of what my responsibilities are.”

That kind of talk leads us to enthusiastically endorse Holt against incumbent Sheriff David Clarke, and to encourage county Democrats to cross party lines and cast their votes for the candidate with the “R” next to his name.  Holt, 66, a retired State Patrol district commander, has the experience, qualifications and mature management style to transform Clarke’s helter skelter department into the competent law enforcement agency it once was.

Holt, a 30-year Milwaukee County resident, served five years on the city of Greenfield fire and police commission after retiring from the state patrol in 1996. Now in real estate, Holt was appointed to the city of Greenfield Board of Review in 2005. He is an active member of the Milwaukee County Law Enforcement Executive’s Association.

As commander of state patrol District 2 (Wisconsin’s six southeastern Wisconsin counties), Holt gained over a decade of experience coordinating efforts with local law enforcement, a key part of the sheriff's job. Under Clarke, sheriff’s deputies have been removed from their traditional parks and freeway jurisdictions as Clarke has tried unsuccessfully to assert gun control and tactical units in the city of Milwaukee.

Some of the fixes for the department are just plain common sense.

“Just to cite one example,” Holt says, “(Clarke) had people trained in motor carrier enforcement (regulations against large vehicles). Without regard for their training he has reassigned them to the jail. It’s a total waste.”

Other Clarke initiatives, such as the effort to hand freeway patrol duties over to the state patrol and the mobile jail unit leave Holt scratching his head. He calls the state patrol proposal “a political wish list” that will require the county board and state Legislature to change the law in the face of staunch opposition. He doesn’t offer a comment on the mobile jail, which has been parked in Ozaukee County for more than three months, according to sheriff’s deputies.

Under the watch of Clarke and County Executive Scott Walker, few functions of the sheriff’s department are running smoothly. The courts are dangerously understaffed; 16,000 violations were cited in the county jail; and the morale of deputies has hit bottom due to Clarke’s knee-jerk management style. Clarke is at war with the sheriff’s deputies union.

Holt sees a pattern of “bad judgment” that has marked Clarke throughout his career, from his firing in 1983 when he was a Milwaukee cop (Clarke was reinstated), to his decision to pour beers in uniform this year at a fundraiser (a potential liability issue), to the time he strolled into the jail holstering a loaded gun (an extremely dangerous regulations violation).

“It’s important to have someone who has the maturity and judgment to run the department, and the ability to work with people, not only within the department but with the chiefs of police and other law enforcement agencies,” Holt says.

We think so too. Vote Donald Holt on Tuesday Nov. 7.

The numbers for Sheriff David Clarke in the black community are overwhelming across the board, beginning on Holton Street in Riverwest and heading west and north out to the Granville area and beyond. 

In Aldermanic District 1 (bordered by Capital Drive on the south, the Milwaukee River parkway to the east, running north to W. Bradley Road and extending west as far 53rd Street at Hampton) Clarke crushed Bobot in every ward for a 1424-678 landslide — 68%. (District 1 is Marvin Pratt's old District, now represented by Ald. Ashanti Hamilton.)

It's staggering. Vince Bobot creamed Clarke in the two roughest wards of Riverwest (215-104 for 67%) but once the election crossed Holton Street into the Harambee wards bordering to the west (McGee-Jackson's district), it's all Clarke (121-47 for 72%). The Clarke trend in the black community continues all the way to the 'Tosa border on 60th Street, and turns north and west to the city limits.

Bobot took the East Side and downtown handily. He won convincingly in his campaign's home base, Bayview Ald. District 14 (56%), on his way to winning nearly every ward on the south side. He posted a solid victory on the west side. He captured the southwest side from a very competitive Clarke.

But Bobot's margins of victory on the south side were not big enough to swing the election. Clarke got more votes out of single wards at Vincent (194) and Rufus King (166) High Schools on the north side than Bobot got in any single ward south of the I.

Republicans crossing for Clarke?  There were some to be sure, as reported, giving Clarke a slight edge in the county suburbs. But the impact of cross-voting was buried under the avalanche for Clarke coming out of the city's black community. Clarke's city of Milwaukee edge (2,600 votes) was the bulk (69%) of his overall margin of victory.

Yet another racially polarized Milwaukee vote won the day.

Clarke's actions gave Walker the ammunition necessary to make the cut.  Clarke's actions showed he had enough resources in his department, enough to even duplicate the efforts of the City of Milwaukee Police Department. 

It was Clarke who made the decision to send out Deputy Schuh, a 50-something-year-old deputy, to walk foot patrol in one of the roughest parts of the city, and it was Clarke's orders that Schuh do it without a partner.

Patroling city streets is the responsibility of the City of Milwaukee Police Department — not the Sheriff's Department.  There are always exceptions and times when different departments cross lines, often in emergency situations, but the case of Schuh was a case of discipline — not an emergency.  Deputy Schuh made the mistake of publicly criticizing Clarke in his union newsletter — a crime punishable with an unpartnered street patrol.

Union officials may want to think twice about publishing the names of deputies who are critical of Clarke in their newsletter.  Next time, Clarke could put them in life-threatening situations.

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An interesting add-on tidbit for union officials who might be reading this — you'll notice that the majority of the posts from pro-Clarke supporters who respond in the comment section of this blog don't use their real names.  If they love him and won't publish their real names, then why should you take the extra risk to publish the names of deputies critical of Clarke when it is the ideas, not the author, which are important? 

Clarke didn't stop there.  He then asked for an inflationary increase.

Is this the same David Clarke who is against tax increases (which he is now for) and is a darling of the Republican party for running as a Democrat in a Democratic county?

Why yes.  Yes it is.  Will Walker still say nice things about Clarke at every opportunity?  Stay tuned. 

Get ready to absorb some interesting stats in the upcoming Sheriff's race.  Many traditional democratic groups will be crossing over to vote for Republican candidate for Sheriff, Don Holt.

Says one union official, "(Sheriff David) Clarke comes in and tells us that we're working men who shouldn't have to pay for all of these high costs for public pensions and healthcare costs.  He didn't get it — we support workers getting healthcare and pensions".

The grapevine is all a buzz that the mostly African-American north side came out pretty strong for Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke while the mostly white south side came out for Vince Bobot.  If this is true, and when the final numbers come out of city hall, it means that people of color looked past qualifications and past what was in the publics best interest to vote for Clarke because he is black.

That would be a bitter irony.  About 90% of the people incarcerated (pre-sentence inmates awaiting trial) at the Milwaukee County jail are people of color.  Under Clarke, conditions have been deplorable and he has violated the agreement in the consent decree of the Christensen lawsuit.  That agreement said that inmates would not be held in overcrowded and inhumane conditions.  They would not be forced to sleep on concrete floors because there wasn't adequate space.

It would not be the first time African-Americans voted against their own best interest in Milwaukee.  In 2004, the changing district of County Supervisor Robert Krug ousted him in favor of Toni Clark.  Krug is white.  Clark is black.  Krug was a strong, full-time advocate for his district and knew how to bring home the bacon.  Supervisor Clark (not to be confused with any relation to Sheriff David Clarke) treats the job as a part-time gig with full-time pay and if you've seen her on the cable tv station that broadcasts county board meetings, you would be unimpressed.

Is this how it's going to be in Milwaukee from here out?  Is Milwaukee going to set aside qualified and diligent public servants because they are white?

It will be interesting to see the ward by ward breakdown when it comes out.  I hope the grapevine was just full of hot air.  I hope it was wrong. 

The explanations given so far by the city of Milwaukee about why the turnout numbers were higher than the votes counted for candidates are as clear as a Florida election during a hurricane.  The ballots are being handcounted today.

There is enough evidence of cross-party voting to question whether or not some ballots that should have been excluded might have been mistakenly counted.

Sheriff David Clarke's reported victory over Vince Bobot is slim enough to warrant a recount.

Bobot should step up and call for the recount, if for no other reason than curiosity about how exactly all of the various voter equations Tuesday seemed to work in Clarke's favor — if in fact the vote holds up.

These were voters who identified themselves as Republicans in the party box at top, but when they read the rules below the party box (which are worded so poorly that confusion seems to be the goal) and started checking off Republicans, they were stumped when they found Clarke on the Democratic ticket.

But did people get new ballots and start over, checking the "Democrat" arrow and voting for Clarke? Or did they stick with their initial ballots and vote for Republican Sheriff's candidate Don Holt? Or did they vote for Republicans and Clarke and have their ballots thrown out?

Van Hollen and Bucher are basically interchangable (minus Van Hollen's campaign cash), which didn't give Republicans much incentive to stay in their primary. With 90 % of the vote in Tuesday, nearly 340,000 votes had been cast statewide in the Democratic primary, compared to 220,000 on the GOP side, reflecting a lack of Republican interest in the AG's race.

Outside of a few wards in the 23rd Assembly District (a GOP primary won by former TMJ weatherman Jim Ott), there was nothing else for Milwaukee County Republicans to do Tuesday — so they gave Clarke a boost. Coupled with a good showing among black voters, it would be just enough of a push for Clarke to hang on to hopes of keeping his job.

A strange equation, but one that's kept one of the most arrogantly inept and unpopular sheriffs in Milwaukee County history alive. 

A TELLING NOTE: Fox 6 reported election night that Clarke had received an early call of congratulations from none other than Congressman Mark Green, Republican candidate for governor.

Either Clarke is an extremely poor listener who is completely out of tune with what the qualifications of both his democratic and his republican opponents are, or he is lying.  It could be both.

Clarke's endorsement piece lists a couple hundred of his "supporters".  I put "supporters" in quotation marks because it's come to our attention that not all of the people he claims are supporters on his leaflet are in fact supporting him or even voting for him.   Again, Clarke is either a really poor listener or he is lying.  Again, it appears it is both.

As for experience, Clarke's democratic opponent is Vince Bobot is a former cop and a former municipal Judge.  Clarke's only qualifications before he was appointed Sheriff were that he was a cop so Bobot is already more qualified than Clarke was.

Clarke's republican opponent, Don Holt, retired as a Commander from the State Troopers and now sits on the Milwaukee County Law Enforcement Executives Association.

Both Bobot and Holt are well qualified and their qualifications exceed those of Clarke when he took the job.

This flier is a prime example of how Clarke wants people to perceive him.  While Clarke would have fired any of his deputies had they worn a gun while bartending as Clarke did, they would have been fired.  Had any of his deputies misused public resources for private gain as Clarke did when he used department horses and the drug seizure car in a parade for political purposes, Clarke would have fired them.  In fact, Clarke even went so far as to demote one of his subordinates (Deputy Pete Misko) for running against him in the past. 

Some will say I'm unfair comparing Clarke to a douchebag.  Perhaps they are right — a douchebag at least provides a service of sorts. 

 ###

Note: Here at Watchdog Milwaukee, we dedicate special categories to local scoundrels who shame public service and through their actions diminish the integrity of the offices they hold.  Clarke gets his own category. 

This is the 3rd mailing I have (unfortunately) gotten at my house.  All three of them share one unique trait–lots of inspiring quotes, attributed to no one.   

Here is one of the more recent spouts:

In these times of excessive budgets, it's refreshing to have a sheriff who can stay within budget and still make substantial improvements.  Clarke is just such a guy.

Who said that??? 

Certainly no one who has heard of Clarke's $600,000 request to redecorate his office!  No one who has had an accident on the freeway system and had to wait and wait and wait for a deputy to arrive, because they have been redirected to duplicate MPD's efforts while leaving our freeways largely unpatrolled.  [On a side note, is it just me or are we seeing a LOT more Milwaukee County squads on the freeways in these last weeks before the election?  Coincidence? You decide.]

Here's another one: 

Let's not forget that David Clarke was a beat cop in Milwaukee for 11 years so he knows about crime in the neighborhoods.  I think that's why he put crime fighting back in the daily schedules of his deputies.

Again, who said that?? 

Yes, Clarke was a beat cop, and his motto was "I don't drive, I don't write and I don't get involved."  I am told he was fond of patrolling the former Northridge Mall with his head shaved into a Mohawk and wearing bright blue contact lenses.  While we're on the subject of not forgetting, let's not forget that Chief Harold Brier actually fired him in 1983, during those 11 years as a beat cop.  THAT'S something to be proud of!

How about this one: 

A leader for change.

According to whom??  He has changed a lot at the MCSO, most notably deputy morale.  Clarke's postcard states that he believes he has "respect.  Respect for the people I serve . . . "  What??  What about the deputies themselves?  A hallmark of good leadership is respecting your subordinates, and putting their needs first.  A true leader gives credit for success to his or her team and takes the blame for what goes wrong.  Without the respect for and of people you lead, any respect for any other group is meaningless.  Clarke has demonstrated again and again the lack of respect he has for the men and women of his department, calling them "headless nails" and blaming individual deputies for things that go wrong, sometimes even before having all the facts.  Yet whatever they do well, Clarke credits his own "leadership".  Heaven forbid Clarke could be responsible for any error, yet thanks to the mainstream media, we're lead to believe that he is the Savior of the County, riding his white horse into battle against crime every day. 

All I can think when I read these unattributed quotes is that these must be the voices in Clarke's head, telling him how great he is.  Then again, it could be the flunkies he has surrounded himself with, who are so in fear of losing their jobs that they will of course tell the Emperor how great his new clothes look, regardless of the reality.  But with no names on the quotes, and not one single name on the list of supporters that is recognizable, it's hard to tell where the line between reality and Clarke's fantasies begins.

Looking through the list of names of "supporters" there are noticeable absences.  There is not one single law enforcement organization, not a single labor union, no associations, no public officials, and no groups of any kind endorsing Clarke for reelection.  The Democratic Party altered its own bylaws to endorse Bobot in the primary, something they have never done before.  Not too surprising, as Clarke is really a Republican wearing an ill-fitting "Democrat" mask.  It is really easy to see through, and fortunately the associations, the unions, the public officials, all have seen the truth.  Let's hope the voters do, too.

Too bad Clarke cannot put the truth on his campaign literature, because the truth WILL hurt.  As the late, great Johnny Cash sang, "Go tell that long-tongued liar . . . you can run on for a long time, but sooner or later God'll cut you down."  Let's pray that the voters do the cutting next week.

The forum was attended by candidates Don Holt (Republican candidate for Sheriff), Vince Bobot (Democratic candidate for Sheriff), John Chisholm and Lorraine McNamara-McGraw (Democratic candidates for District Attorney) and Lew Wasserman (Independent candidate for District Attorney).  All of the candidates stayed except Clarke. 

Clarke arrived at the St. Francis Days parade twenty minutes early.  He had asked St. Francis Days Parade Chairman Dave Berg to be put near the end because of the NAACP forum and Berg had accomodated his request by making him 47th out of 50th to march in the parade.

But Clarke said he didn't have time for the NAACP.

All the candidates for District Attorney were there.  All the candidates for Sheriff were there.  Everyone else stayed.  They answered questions, then went to participate in the parade.  Clarke left without answering one question.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, overheard Clarke tell a parade official, "There were only about 20 people there so I left — it was a waste to be there" (at the NAACP forum).  Had Clarke stayed, he would have noticed the crowd swell to become standing room only by the time the forum ended.

Kennedy McGuigan, 10 (that's my boy), who attended the parade said Clarke was riding on a horse with three other riders.  Under Clarke, horses have been brought back into service for the Sheriff's department but they are used for little more than parades and political posturing for Clarke.

Multiple other sources spoke to Watchdog but expressed reservations about speaking with us due Clarke's vindictive track record.  They were unwilling to go on the record or to provide any quotes out of fear of repercussions from Clarke.

An elderly couple was enjoying the parade when Clarke passed by.  "We're not going to re-elect that S.O.B." she was overheard saying to her husband.  "Darn," she said, "I wish he'd have heard me say that."

The people attending the NAACP forum probably wished they'd heard anything from Clarke.

Clearly, Vince Bobot is the right choice.

Voters deserve to have honest representation from honest people.  Sheriff David Clarke has been a miserable failure, has lied to the public, and has been a ruthless bully rather than the leader voters deserve.  Like Captain Bligh from Mutiny on the Bounty, Clarke has abused and misused his post to satiate his own lust for power. But instead of a mutiny, deputy sheriffs held a "no confidence" vote – and Clarke received "no confidence" from about 99% of the deputies casting ballots.

Bobot, on the other, hand has been high-handed and honest.  His experience in the Milwaukee Police Department and as a Municipal Judge give him a broad understanding of the criminal justice system.  Bobot's take-charge attitude extends to providing real leadership in the department, but, unlike Clarke, should anything go wrong Bobot understands the chain of command and that the person at the top must take responsibility.

Clarke cannot lay claim to personal responsibility as he has sought to scapegoat his deputies for every ill that has happened in the department since his arrival.  "Some people just don't get it" has been Clarke's mantra as he has sought to fire and demote his subordinates, only to have the county's personnel review board overturn his heavy-handed actions.  Clarke's drunken antics led to his (temporary) firing from the Milwaukee Police Department, yet recently he was seen sporting a sidearm-holstered gun (a clear violation of his own departmental rules) while serving beer at a fest.

Bobot is a member of the Democratic Party, but Clarke has refused to join, calling himself an "Independent Democrat."  At the same time, Clarke has worked to undermine Democrats while he has worked for and endorsed Republican candidates.  It may sound odd until you realize that whoever wins this primary election is nearly a shoe-in to win the general election since mostly Democratic Milwaukee County trends very Democratic in general elections.

Bobot's endorsement list is strong and includes prominent Democrats: U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, state Sens. Tim Carpenter, Spencer Coggs and Jeff Plale, state Reps. Pedro Colon, Jon Richards, Chris Sinicki and Josh Zepnick.  Numerous traditional Democratic groups have unanimously lined up behind Bobot, making it clear that he is the choice for Democrats. 

###

On Dyskeptic Radio:

Watchdog Milwaukee has learned that under the leadership of Sheriff David Clarke Jr., both the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel as well as the public were duped by a clever but sly effort to provide a false sense of security at the airport while at the same time fool the public into thinking Clarke's Sheriff's Department was running smoothly following the recent foiled terrorist plot in the UK.

In a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel column entitled Mitchell rallies its security resources, columnist RAQUEL RUTLEDGE wrote about several of the security measures that were being instituted at the airport in order to increase security.  Unfortunately, Rutledge's story was coupled with a photo from JS Photographer Jack Orton who showed a deputy diligently patrolling the airport with a canine unit — leaving the impression that the dog was a bomb sniffing dog and Deputy Chuck Malek was his handler.  The problem is that Malek is not his handler and in fact Malek doesn't even have k-9 training.  While the public and Orton were assuming the dog and his handler were safeguarding the airport, Malek was doing little more than taking the dog for a walk through the airport.

But it wasn't just Rutledge and Orton who were duped.   Two other reporters who contributed to the story now have mud on their faces as do the editors of the news desk.

Yep! The Sheriff was right at home serving up the drinks to the folks of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Grinning ear to ear while blowing off the suds from the tops of those cold mugs of Millers, gave Sheriff Clarke some good quality time with the voters. I wonder if the Sheriff after handing off one of the cold beers reminded each voter that drinking and driving don’t mix.

Well, it seems that serving beer and wearing a gun are two ingredients that should not mix either.

There the Sheriff was, having a grand ol’ time passing out the beers while wearing his pistol and looking like as if he were in some southwestern saloon filled with hard-drinking Mexican banditos and gringo bad men.

He was not at some saloon, but at Miller Park.  He was at a ballgame handing out alcohol and in his own subtle way reminding people that he was the Sheriff, the gun prominently displayed in public helped to remind the drinking voters of that fact.

Don Holt, a concerned voter also took note of the fact that our Sheriff was wearing his gun while serving alcohol to the electorate at Miller Park. So much it bothered Mr. Holt that he went on to complain to Mr. Kevin Kennedy, Executive Director Wisconsin State Elections Board.

Mr. Holt wrote to Mr. Kennedy that “The current sheriff (Clarke) was in uniform and wearing his sidearm at the time. Clarke’s action is a clear and serious violation of the Milwaukee County Code of Ethics. “9.05. Code of ethics. (1) The county board hereby reaffirms that a county elected official, appointed official or employe [sic] holds his/her position as a public trust, and any effort to realize personal gain through official conduct is a violation of that trust.”

Holt is arguing that Sheriff Clarke betrayed his position as a leading law enforcement official by promoting alcohol while Clarke was in uniform.

I think Holt has a point here.

If Sheriff Clarke is at one end of the public service message wearing his uniform telling people not to drive when they drink, how could he expect that message to be taken seriously if he’s at public events wearing his uniform serving beers?  There is tomfoolery here!

Is alcohol the leading cause of death in automobile accidents?  If it is, should the Sheriff of Milwaukee County be serving beers while in uniform at a public forum like a baseball game?

In the letter to the Wisconsin Election Board Holt states, “The current sheriff’s (Clarke’s) action of serving alcoholic beverages while in uniform, wearing his sidearm and clearly recognizable as the sheriff is in direct conflict with his responsibility to enforce all laws and ordinances relating to the improper or illegal use of alcohol. The citizens of Milwaukee County could be subject to severe liabilities should one of those to whom the sheriff served alcohol to, later become involved in vehicle crash involving the intoxicated use of a motor vehicle or illegal use of a firearm.” Good point! Let’s suppose that one of those people the Sheriff served a beer had gotten into an accident.  Would the people of Milwaukee County be held accountable to the family of the person or persons hurt?  
 
Fortunately, the tax payers will not have to deal with that issue this time around. It would nevertheless be wise for Sheriff Clarke to think about what he’s doing in the public. Serving beer while in uniform is counter-productive to the idea of law enforcement’s message that drinking and driving don’t mix.

Clarke wants $600,000 to remodel his office.  Having just gotten a sticker shock quote of $25,000 to remodel my kitchen, I'm left wondering, is Clarke including gold doorknobs?  Will he be having a replica of DiVinci's fresco in the Sistine Chapel painted on his ceiling?  Is he jetting in the Fab 5 to give him a makeover?

There are actually a few things he's doing to the administrative area, including making one conference room into a smaller meeting room and convertng a locker room to storage space (as if stored boxes would be insulted by the smell of 20-year-old lockers).  All the same, the price tag is steep and Clarke already knows the county is strapped for cash.

With that in mind, you have to wonder why he would be so brazen as to put in a request for unnecessary spending so he can feel pretty.

Rather than leave his sidearm in his car or at home as would be in keeping with department policy, he apparently decided it would make more of a statement if he was wearing a gun.

Watchdog Milwaukee has learned that there is an apparent blackout of all stories that would be critical of Sheriff David Clarke at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.  Multiple tips have come into their offices and they have ignored them.  A tip so blazingly important as this should not have been ignored, yet they have chosen to not publish these key news stories.  

In the coming days, Watchdog Milwaukee will be investigating and reporting those stories which the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel as well as the mainstream media has chosen to bury.  We believe it is the right of the public, not just the powerful, to have information that is critical to making a decision.  We hope our 6000-7000 per day readers will pass along the links to these stories to people they know.

But this race is far from over.

In theory, only dems would vote in the democratic primary but that's not going to happen this time around.  Republicans will be crossing over to vote for Clarke because they, with the nomination for Governor all wrapped up by Mark Green, don't have many real primary races to focus on in Milwaukee County this September.

Since the cynical GOP is great at creating havoc, look for GOP flack talk radio show hosts to encourage their listeners to vote for the bumbling Clarke.  For that matter, they'll likely be encouraging Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary for State Senator Jeff Plale also.  Plale has earned the ire of traditional dems who prefer their democratic state senators vote like democrats.  Those dems will be casting their ballots for challenger Donovan Riley.

Also of some interest is the 23rd Assembly district currently represented by Curt Giehlow.  With Giehlow throwing in the towel, two Republicans will vie for the spot to take on whoever of the 3 candidates who filed as democrats.  This is likely the only race that could keep a small amount of Milwaukee County republicans voting in their own party.  It is yet to be seen whether this ends up to be a competitive race or not. 

Milwaukee County Democratic Party Endorses Vince Bobot for Sheriff Not Only is Bobot the Only Real Democrat in the Race, He is the Most Qualified Candidate for the Job

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee County Democratic Party announced today that it has endorsed former Municipal Judge Vince Bobot for Milwaukee County Sheriff. Bobot filed his nomination papers Monday, and is working to defeat Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke in the Democratic primary on Sept. 12. “Vince Bobot is the only real Democrat in this race, and we are pleased to mobilize our party resources and support behind him,” said Martha Love, Chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party. “We are united behind Vince, and we will work hard to oust David Clarke and finally put a Democrat in the Sheriff’s Office.” Love said Clarke is an undercover Republican who has run as a Democrat in Milwaukee County because he knows he could not win as a Republican; Milwaukee County has not had a Republican Sheriff in 46 years. Clarke was appointed by former Republican Governor Scott McCallum, has taken a number of conservative stances as Sheriff, has written about what makes a Republican, has endorsed President Bush’s nominees, is listed as a member of a national Republican group, and raises his money from Republicans. Clarke has also refused to join the Democratic Party, even after repeated outreach attempts by leadership with the Milwaukee County Democratic Party And, according to deputy sheriffs in his own department, Clarke has proven to be an ineffective Sheriff, managing the department poorly, retaliating against those who disagree with him, and carrying guns into his own jail. Bobot, however, is a qualified leader who would make a strong Milwaukee County Sheriff and has shown great talent at building bridges within the community. A former municipal judge and assistant city attorney, Bobot is also a decorated police officer. And, he is a member of the Democratic Party. “Enough is enough,” Love said. “David Clarke has gotten away with running as a Democrat for too long, when he really is a right-wing Republican extremist in hiding. Vince Bobot will not only represent all of the citizens of Milwaukee County, he will respect the deputies who are working hard to keep Milwaukee safe. We are proud to support Vince Bobot, and we will work hard to ensure his election this fall.” Due to a rules change at the Democratic State Convention in La Crosse last weekend, local parties can now endorse in primaries under certain circumstances.

Clarke is working to blur that line when he forces his deputies to be indoctrinated by a preacher from Elmbrook Church — the non-denominational evangelical church in Waukesha County.

This clear mixing of church and state will be congratulated by the right who cares little for our constitution — the hallmark of American values.

Congrats go out to the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff’s Association who filed a lawsuit against Clarke for being forced to go through religious indoctrination. Nothing in their oaths said they had to listen to a sermon as part of the job — rather, most people believe in a separation of church and state and it’s fair to assume (in most cases) that an elected government official isn’t going to try to ram religion down your throat as part of your job.

An open records request on Clarke’s travel habits showed that Clarke spent over $25,000 in travel junkets and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association is frosted that Deputies are struggling in an effort to make their squads with 100,000+ miles on them limp along. While these squads are serviced by County employees, Clarke has his own vehicle serviced at a car dealer at a much higher price. Everyone knows that dealerships charge about 50% more than a good solid mechanics shop so why would Clarke waste the tax dollars if he can’t even get his deputies tasers?
Elected officials have to set priorities but is it too much to ask that the safety of then men and women serving under him should be Clarke’s priority? Is it too much to ask that he have his Deputies properly equipped? Why would he prioritize having an LCD TV in his office over the safety of his officers?

In the jail deputies do not wear a sidearm. Risk of an inmate getting into a skirmish and overwhelming a deputy are just too great. There are often situations where one deputy is in an detention pod with 60 inmates. Inmates who choose to rebel could easily overwhelm the deputy and get a hold of a gun.  This is why guns are not allowed in the pods. However tasers, a non-lethal restraining tool, could be used in the case where an inmates is acting up.

Clarke has conciously prioritized travel junkets for himself over the safety of our deputies. It’s no wonder that deputies feel that Clarke isn’t watching out for their best interest.

Getting drunk and waking up with an unfortunate tattoo isn’t unique but Sheriff David Clarke has a creative solution to his own tattoo problem — change all of the Sheriff logos in the County to match the 5 point star tattoo that now adorns his arm. Apparently Clarke forgot to tell the tattoo artist that the Sheriff’s department has a 7 cornered star, not the 5 cornered star that Clarke is sporting.

You’ve got to wonder how that one slipped his mind.

Badges alone will run the cash-strapped county $37,000 to replace but money is no object in Clarke’s kingdom. After all, it’s not Clarke who has to balance the county budget.

This case of waste is not unique. Former Sheriff Bob Kleismet (who is easily twice the man with ten times the integrity of his CRG son Chris), ran into some hot water when it was pointed out that he had department letterhead printed with gold lettering. Taxpayers thought it was wasteful and Kleismet was not re-elected.

Clarke has letterhead, department squad cars, badges and other department logos that now all have to be changed. This could run over $100,000 before Clarke is done. It will make the gold lettering stationary expense look like chicken scratch before Clarke is done.

But being the caring person I am, I’ll offer Sheriff Clarke some taxpayer money saving advice. Go back to the tattoo parlor and have them ink in a few more corners. Either that, or hook up with the doctors that are helping young gang members remove their tattoos to get a new start in life. You might even be able to use your trademark intimidation tactics to get them to do the work for free.

In several times during my life I’ve considered taking a job in law enforcement but if I did, I always hoped it would be working for a Sheriff like Baldwin. I once mentioned that to Lev and he smiled and he said if I wanted the job, he’d make me a deputy but I’d have to give up the Supervisor position and I’d have to work it the jail for at least the first five years just like everybody else.

I half considered it but I couldn’t see working for a deputy’s starting pay of just $26000 and wouldn’t relish being on jail duty for what would have been a minimum of 5 years.

Today, if that same offer were to be made by now-Sheriff David Clarke, I wouldn’t even give it the half-consideration I gave to Baldwin’s offer.

Clarke has changed the atmosphere in the Department and deputies are weary of being blamed and scapegoated for anything that goes wrong. After a prisoner escape, Clarke held a press conference and said that some people in his department still don’t get it. Contrast this to when there was an escape under Baldwin’s watch and Baldwin said he was the top of the chain of command and therefore he was responsible. But Baldwin assured the public that the problems would be fixed and within days, the area that Laron Ball had escaped through had been welded shut.

When a deputy was critical of Clarke, that deputy was sent on foot patrol without a partner in one of the roughest parts of the city.

Recently, a 911 operator in the Sheriff’s Department answered an emergency call but it was not an emergency — it was Clarke who said he didn’t like the operators attitude. Clarke then proceeded to verbally flog the operator for minutes.

These are the sorts of things that deputies see and talk about. Clarke may have his supporters, but they’re not among the rank and file. He is so disdained by his own deputies that they held a vote of no confidence in him and hundreds of deputies nearly unanimously gave Clarke a vote of no confidence.

Our Sheriff’s Deputies work hard and they put themselves in harms way to make the public safer. They deserve a boss that cares about them and understands that the Department isn’t a place to play turf battles. They won’t find those qualities in Sheriff David Clarke.

Fortunately a challenger has risen. A huge hulk of a man, former Judge (and former police officer) Vince Bobot has stepped forward and is making an impressive run for the office. Bobot deserves our support.

In this podcast we talk about Sheriff David Clarke, Bob Dohnal’s relationship with Senator Tom Reynolds, the impact of Scott Walker’s cuts to mass transit despite getting an increase in funding from Governor Doyle & Milwaukee Transit Services.

We kept the size small (about 3mb) for a quick download.

Click here for the PODCAST

Go, Dave, go…..elsewhere, preferably.

He also has problems with that “more than” “less than” stuff we all learned in second grade math. He couldn’t figure out that holding detainees in the booking room for 31 hours, 50 hours or 100 hours is holding them for more than 30 hours, which led to 16,662 violations of a legally binding consent decree, which led to the county being found in contempt of court.

Finally, a new county audit says the Sheriff’s Department issued 29,528 citations in 2004, and 26,919 in 2003, but that’s not what the Sheriff’s Department says in budget documents. The department claimed 27,000 citations in 2004 and 29,598 in 2003.

All this is just more evidence that Clarke is less than competent.

Way to go, Dave. You messed up running the jail, you messed up running the freeway patrol. Someone tell Sheriff Taylor to take this guy’s bullet away.

Shut up, Dave.

You had, on your watch, 16,000 or so violations of the consent decree governing conditions in the jail’s booking room. You forfeit your place on the lecture podium forever.

Your mismanagement is going to cost the county one way or another. Either the local judge’s decision not to award monetary damages will be reversed on appeal, or there will be private lawsuits — maybe a class action — filed. Those suits will be especially difficult to defend because the way you ran your booking room was indefensible.