DeVougas Resigns From Fire & Police Commission
Attorney was subject of police video leak that resulted in ethics investigation.
Steven M. DeVougas. Photo from the Fire and Police Commission.
The Fire & Police Commission, Milwaukee’s police and fire oversight board, has suffered its second resignation in five months.
Steven M. DeVougas, an attorney, resigned from the commission Monday.
He follows Raymond Robakowski, who resigned unexpectedly in October.
The commission has been engulfed in controversy for over a year, and DeVougas has often found himself at the center of it.
In December 2019, a police department leak showed that DeVougas represented a client, Kalan Haywood, before the police department, a conflict of interest.
The leak benefitted Alfonso Morales, who was serving out the remainder of former chief Edward A. Flynn‘s term and seeking a four-year contract. It shined the spotlight on DeVougas who was then chair of the FPC and was seemed in no hurry to give Morales his contract. The controversy pushed the FPC to take up the matter and Morales was awarded the contract, with DeVougas voting no.
DeVougas ended up being the subject of an ongoing investigation by the city’s Ethics Board. The board has discussed DeVougas’ lack of cooperation with its investigation.
A third-party report on the leak criticized both the chief and DeVougas. Mayor Tom Barrett said he didn’t think DeVougas should remain on the commission.
That quick demotion triggered a successful lawsuit from Morales. A judge ruled he was denied his due process rights and reinstated the chief. Morales remains in retirement and is reportedly negotiating a settlement with the city.
Now DeVougas is leaving. But not without blaming the city’s political culture for resisting change.
“Although we are not perfect, I have found my fellow Commissioners to be dedicated civil servants. We may have differences of opinion, but we are generally cordial and have a professional and collegial relationship. We have open and honest conversations about the decisions we make and how we get there. I have never met a group of people so dedicated to doing the right thing the right way. However, what I have seen is a concerted effort by various entities and individuals to undermine the credibility and the authority of the FPC. The ‘powers that be’ benefit from weakening the Commission. They do not want us to push for change and to hold people accountable,” wrote DeVougas.
The commission has struggled to enact change. After Robakowski resigned following an argument with Soler, the six remaining members tied repeatedly in selecting a new chief.
A seventh, tie-breaking vote was added when the Common Council confirmed Barrett’s appointment of Amanda Avalos in January. But the commission has held off voting on a new chair until March at the earliest.
The commission could lose another member soon. Ann Wilson has served with an expired term since 2018, but Barrett moved for her reappointment in late 2020. A council committee, after multiple closed session meetings, is recommending she be rejected.
Wilson’s reappointment hearings triggered an Inspector General’s report to resolve conflicting accounts on if and when the City Attorney’s Office provided legal advice regarding the Morales situation. That report came out last week and said the City Attorney provided advice that the commissioners ignored.
Wilson’s rejection wouldn’t immediately remove her from the commission. She could serve until a replacement is confirmed or she resigns.
The part-time commissioners are paid $6,600 per year and serve five-year terms. DeVougas was first appointed to the commission in 2013 and his second term was scheduled to expire in 2023.
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More about the Fire & Police Commission's Troubles
- City Hall: Johnson Names Former Deputy City Attorney To Fire & Police Commission - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 2nd, 2022
- City Hall: Washington, Burgos Join Fire-Police Board - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 20th, 2022
- City Hall: Kessler Resigns From Fire-Police Board - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 19th, 2022
- City Hall: Committee Backs Johnson’s FPC Nominees - Jeramey Jannene - Sep 9th, 2022
- City Hall: Mayor Acts To Create Full Fire & Police Commission - Jeramey Jannene - Jul 12th, 2022
- City Hall: Bree Spencer Named To Fire & Police Commission - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 9th, 2022
- FPC Suspends Residency Preference For Police, Fire Promotions - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 7th, 2021
- City Hall: Committee Endorses Dana World-Patterson’s Appointment To FPC - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 2nd, 2021
- City Hall: Dana World-Patterson Nominated to FPC - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 9th, 2021
- City Hall: Jeffrey Norman Named Permanent Chief of Police - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 4th, 2021
Read more about Fire & Police Commission's Troubles here
I disagree with Jeramey’s opinions: “ The Fire & Police Commission, Milwaukee’s police and fire oversight board, has suffered its second resignation in five months.”, and “The leak benefitted Alfonso Morales, who was serving out the remainder of former chief Edward A. Flynn‘s term and seeking a four-year contract.”
Former FPC Commissioner DeVougas had a fundamental and, from an oversight perspective, fatally flawed, notion of the mission and mandate of the FPC.
This became abundantly clear to me at the May 16, 2019 FPC meeting when they were considering changes to SOP 120-Operating While Intoxicated. The use of Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) by the MPD was finally, after many years, being acknowledged by the MPD and codified into the policy. I spoke at the meeting in opposition based on the pseudo-science used by the DREs. And here is what Commissioner DeVougas had to say, which effectively cut off debate on the merits of using DREs:
“… the point of clarification, I think it’s probably gets into the policies versus operations aspect. The DRE was part of your operations, which is typically out of the purview of the Fire and Police Commission. So it wasn’t anything unlawful on the department’s part, they’re just codifying it into a policy which brings it under our purview at this time.”
The FPC is not “suffering” from the loss of a Commissioner who failed to recognize the supreme authority and duty of the FPC to review and oversee ALL ASPECTS OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE MPD.
Wisconsin State Statutes §62.50(1m) https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/62/II/50/1m the Fire and Police Commission has the following authority granted:
(1m) Policy review. The board shall conduct at least once each year a policy review of all aspects of the operations of the police and fire departments of the city.
FPC Website https://city.milwaukee.gov/fpc/About#.XN4TPC_MxBw
Under Wisconsin law and the Milwaukee City Charter, the Fire and Police Commission oversees all aspects of Fire Department and Police Department operations.
At that May 16, 2019 meeting Commissioner Everett Cocroft did recognize what was going on:
“It’s not in the policy and your already doing it, so you’re just adding what you’re already doing to the policy. We had no idea what a DRE was before y’all brought it here. You’ve pretty much been operating with these DREs without the knowledge of the Fire and Police Commission. If we struck it down y’all could keep doing the same thing.”
We need Commissioners on the Board who acknowledge and perform their duty to review and oversee all aspects of the MFD and MPD operations. The Board has no comprehensive plan to do the required annual review and, far from it, former Commissioner DeVougas didn’t even think it was under the Board’s “purview”. There are many aspects of the MPD’s operations that have not been reviewed by the FPC including: no-knock search warrants, the use of confidential informants, interrogations done in District lockups prior to booking with NO defense attorneys present, comprehensive reporting on Civil Asset Forfeiture and the handling of EXCESSIVE CASH discovered during traffic stops and other encounters… the list goes on and on.
Secondly, there is no evidence presented to support the claim that “The leak benefitted Alfonso Morales, who was serving out the remainder of former chief Edward A. Flynn‘s term and seeking a four-year contract.” In fact, Mr. Mel Johnson addressed this very question in his report submitted to the FPC on July 2, 2020 (https://milwaukee.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4585060&GUID=ACC6B86D-3F9D-4507-B3EC-E3E66D41FD46&Options=&Search=) and he concluded:
“Based on the evidence summarized in this section, there is little or no reason to conclude that, even if the Haywood interview was handled in a way that benefitted Haywood and hurt the case against him, that was done for an improper reason, including a purpose of currying favor with DeVougas to facilitate Morales’ reappointment as police chief.”
and
“Any remaining doubt about whether Haywood received special treatment in order to gain DeVougas’ help for Morales’ reappointment, is seemingly wiped away by the fact that if that was the plan· it certainly didn’t work. DeVougas did not help Morales get reappointed and in fact made that process more difficult, trying to slow walk the process and ultimately voting against Morales.”
@Paul – Morales benefitted because it at the very least created a distraction that downplayed possible scrutiny (of himself). I don’t think it was leaked to curry favor with DeVougas, it was leaked to put the spotlight on DeVougas and off of Morales. It initially made a commissioner look bad, which gave Morales some public leverage. The long-term fallout is, of course, far more complicated.
@Jeramey, good point.