Judge Fines City For Failing To Comply With MPD in Schools Requirement

Milwaukee Police Department. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

“As the old saying goes ‘talk is cheap,’ but this court expects action. This court expects its orders followed,” said Judge David L. Borowski during a hearing Thursday morning.

And the City of Milwaukee’s pace on returning 25 Milwaukee Police Department officers to Milwaukee Public Schools buildings aren’t meeting his definition of action.

“I do not think the city has complied with my order,” said Borowski. He’s now hung a $1,000 per day fine over the city for contempt of court.

The city, in a filing, had asked for a delay on Borowksi’s Feb. 17 ruling that MPD and MPS had 10 days to bring school resource officers (SROs) into schools. The city said it needed time to select the 25 offices and provide them state-required training. An attorney for Milwaukee Public Schools said the school district had done its part to return the officers after Borowski ruled that the costs would be split 50-50.

The judge is levying a $1,000 per day contempt fine against the city for failing to comply. But the city could escape the fine if it meets several benchmarks by March 15.

The Common Council must approve the spending agreement for the officers, the city and MPS must provide the names of the officers selected and the schools they are assigned to and that MPS has scheduled the officers for training with the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).

“I think, candidly, I am being eminently reasonable,” said the oft-outspoken judge.

The requirement to return the officers to schools, a program the MPS board cut in 2020, was imposed in 2023 as part of Act 12, the sales tax and local government funding package.

“It is troubling to me that what it appears to be to me, that the city, meaning the mayor, with all due respect, or his negotiators, they put the law in place so he could his sales tax with no intention to ever comply with the law,” said Borowski.

But Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s chief of staff Nick DeSiato said that wasn’t true. He said the he was personally involved in conversations with MPS dating back to 2022 about returning the officers. He thanked Borowski for resolving the funding stalemate at 50-50, which he said was the city’s offer to MPS.

“The City of Milwaukee has never been unwilling to implement the SRO [program. The city has taken all possible steps since the last hearing to accomplish that,” said assistant city attorney Clint Muche of action since the Feb. 17 hearing.

But Borowski found issue with the city’s steps, including scheduling two special Common Council meetings for the days following Thursday’s hearing.

“That takes some temerity when you’re coming to court today,” said Borowski.

He also said mayoral communications director Jeff Fleming made comments to a reporter undermining the city’s request for a delay when he told a reporter on Monday that no action would be needed. But DeSiato, as the article reflects, said Fleming was referencing only the financial component.

Borowski also took issue with the fact that the posted internal job deadline for officers to be assigned to schools was March 3.

“It’s insulting to the court that the application [period] is not a week. The application deadline is next week,” said the judge.

But Muche and MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough said that the job was posted following the Feb. 17 hearing and MPS dropping its requirement to be involved in the hiring process. Twenty-one applicants have volunteered said Muche and others would be “voluntold” they were being assigned. Hough said the list of assignees was ready and that a review of the applicants was already underway to avoid delay.

Hough said the training, as required in state statute, could take up to eight weeks depending on scheduling with NASRO.

“One could surmise that the goal of the city is to run this out past when the kids are out of school in May or June,” said Borowski.

He expressed disbelief when Lauren Greuel, an attorney for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, informed him that NASRO was in Appleton last week for a regional training event.

“Come on. You’re kidding me. Was the city aware of that?” said the judge.

Muche said the city only became aware through a news report this week.

The city’s attorney, in a filing and in oral arguments, said that the training should be completed first. But Borowski and Greuel said that the officers could be returned and that other solutions could be found, including completing training at a later date.

Muche, in a filing, argued that sending the officers into schools without the state-required training exposed the city to financial and legal liability.

“I would argue that a risk to students and taxpayers is not having SROs in schools in the first place,” said Greuel. She asked for both the city and MPS to be found in contempt.

Borowski took issue with the fact that taxpayers were already bearing the cost of responding to 3,150 calls for service in 2024. Doing quick math with an estimated number of schools, he said that was 17 visits per day. But that didn’t account for summer school and MPS operating its more than 100 schools on different schedules.

The training remains an issue MPD must resolve.

Borowski, issuing an implicit dare to an individual not present, said he didn’t think Police Chief Jeffrey Norman had it in his make up demand NASRO expedite the training. “I don’t think he’s candidly capable of being that forceful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do anything but smile,” said the judge, who acknowledged he’s known for being the opposite.

Charlene Abughrin, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, said Borowski made the right choice, but wished he would have levied a $2,000 per day fine as her attorneys said was allowed under state statute. “I think it’s egregious,” said Abughrin of having to wait two more weeks for compliance. She said the officers were already sufficiently trained.

Alexander Ayala, president of the Milwaukee Police Association praised the decision.

“I think it was a great ruling,” he told Urban Milwaukee. “I just think MPS and the city have been dragging their feet on this for over 18 months and that’s unacceptable.”

He said officers remaining on a beat outside schools would be challenged, but could also experience relief if SROs are able to handle some of the current calls to schools. But a study out of Chicago shows that the presence of SROs doesn’t impact call volumes.

Ayala also noted that Act 12 additionally requires the city to increase the staffing of MPD, something that has become a looming issue because of the city’s difficulty in recruiting police officers.

“MPS has done everything it can to comply with the state law and the court’s orders over the last two weeks,” said MPS outside counsel Hanna Kolberg. “We’ve made immense strides to accomplish those orders and to be compliant with the law and we’re looking forward to working with the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Police Department to get the officers in the schools consistent with the court’s order.”

City officials left without addressing the media. Borowski, who is married to a former mayoral spokesperson, chastised Johnson for being “notably silent” on the issue. Johnson, in public statements, has said he favors SROs and that much of the delay can be attributed to a delay in determining who would pay.

“Since 2023, the City of Milwaukee has worked to comply with the law to deploy school resource officers. We will complete the work as quickly as possible. With the Judge’s stay of his order, we expect to fully comply with the law prior to any sanctions being imposed. The City is taking concrete steps to identify, train, and deploy school resource officers at appropriate locations in order to accomplish the shared goals of ensuring safety and compliance with the law,” said City Attorney Evan Goyke in a statement released after this article was first published.

A follow-up hearing is set for March 17 at 2:30 p.m.

Borowski Lays Into State of MPS

The almost two-hour hearing included several charged interactions, as well as pronouncements from Borowski.

Borowski said it was “water under the bridge” with regard to if the school resources officers were justified or necessary. “The law is what it is.”

He also took issue with the overall state of MPS.

“It is about time in Milwaukee that we address some of the problems that we have,” said the judge, who singled out the school district. “They’re failing their primary goal of educating kids… This is kind of an easy problem for MPS to resolve… It is just long past time that something changes in Milwaukee relative to MPS.”

The remarks were made as board chair Marva Herndon, board member James Ferguson II and interim superintendent Eduardo Galvan looked on for a nearly-full gallery.