State Rep. Bob Donovan
Press Release

Article: MPD chief of staff now moonlighting in Pittsburgh

Statement from Alderman Bob Donovan November 21, 2014

By - Nov 21st, 2014 10:01 am

I was quite surprised when I was contacted by a reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for an article (attached) about the hiring of Milwaukee Police Department Chief of Staff Joel Plant as a crime statistics consultant for the Pittsburgh Police Department. Mr. Plant makes more than $98,000 per year for the MPD, and the Pittsburgh consulting gig could net him more than $30,000.

Again, I must say I was quite surprised to learn about this, especially when you consider all of our police department’s “needs” and issues of late – not to mention our continuing challenges with deadly gun violence, crime and disorder. I sure hope Mr. Plant isn’t skirting any of his duties for the MPD, or using any MPD/city resources in his consulting endeavor.

If Mr. Plant can spend all of that time in Pittsburgh while still doing his job here, I believe it’s time we take another look at his job description, because in my mind this smells strongly of double-dipping at the expense of Milwaukee taxpayers.

The bottom line for me as an elected official and resident is that I want the top brass of the MPD 100% focused on solving Milwaukee’s crime and public safety problems 100% of the time – not 60 or 70% of the time.

How about we take care of our problems first, and let Pittsburgh hire someone else for their issues!

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

Comments

  1. Buho75 says:

    Give us a break. This is undoubtedly a remote gig perfectly able to be done nights and weekends at home with appropriate computer support. If bright city employees can’t do this kind of moonlighting to get their incomes up to reasonable levels for their skill sets we’ll just have more of the Peter Principle at work in the city. I applaud the initiative and wish him well.

  2. Steven Midthun says:

    Why would a reporter from Pittsburgh contact you? And who WOULD be your choice of consultants to compile data?

  3. Andy says:

    I’m not always the biggest fan of the MPD, but this argument is rather ridiculous. If I decided to pick up a second job to supplement my income should my employer take another look at my job description as well? Clearly if I could hold a second job I must have too much time on my hands.

  4. PMD says:

    Based on all of the press releases he issues, it appears that Donovan has too much time on his hands.

  5. Casey says:

    Who cares? As long as he is able to complete his MPD responsibilites in he time frame that he is required to do then why is it a problem that he gets a second job? Is he going to have a problem with cops playing in softball leagues next?

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