The Badger Project is suing the Wisconsin Department of Justice for the names and work histories of all in-state law enforcement officers.
By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT
When a journalism nonprofit asked the Wisconsin Department of Justice in 2020 for the names and work histories of all law enforcement officers in the state, the agency initially appeared ready to grant the request.
But the department received pushback from law enforcement groups, and the records were not released.
This new information came to light in documents recently obtained by The Badger Project in its lawsuit against the state DOJ, which is seeking the names and work histories of most law enforcement officers in Wisconsin. The Badger Project’s co-plaintiff in the suit is the Invisible Institute, the journalism nonprofit that made the 2020 request.
Other news organizations, including the Washington Post, had seen similar requests rejected by the Wisconsin DOJ in preceding years.
In 2024, after the state DOJ denied another request for police names and work histories, this time from both the Invisible Institute and The Badger Project, the organizations sued for access.
In March, as part of the regular evidence exchange in the case, called discovery, the state DOJ released hundreds of documents to the two journalism nonprofits.
Among the documents was a letter sent by Assistant Attorney General Paul Ferguson, who heads the state DOJ’s Office of Open Government, to every police chief in the state. The letter indicated that the state DOJ intended to fulfill the request and release a list of all law enforcement officers in the state, but asked the individual agencies to identify any undercover officers who should not be included in that list.
The Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association responded with a letter to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul the next day and urged the department to reverse itself, according to the documents obtained by The Badger Project.
Kenneth Pilegge, the association’s vice president, wrote that he had “significant concerns” in the letter.
“We have had contacts with members within our membership that have very serious concerns with this release and adamantly oppose this release without a court review,” he continued.
Neither the state DOJ nor the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association gave a comment for this story when offered the opportunity to do so.
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CLICK TO DONATEKaul assumed the position of Attorney General, the head of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, in 2019. The department previously rejected the request for a full list of law enforcement officers’ names and work histories several times before he became AG, according to the released documents.
Dozens of states — including Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa — have released a full list of their law enforcement officers to a nationwide reporting project, which includes the Invisible Institute and The Badger Project.
The Wisconsin DOJ has, in response to repeated requests, released a list of “flagged officers,” those who lost their jobs due to termination, resignation in lieu of termination, or resignation prior to completion of an internal investigation.
This list, however, does not include officers who were fired or forced out of law enforcement jobs in a different state before taking a position in Wisconsin.
In previous denials, Ferguson has cited concerns that a complete list could “endanger” undercover officers and pose a general risk to officers and their families in a “volatile environment.”
The state DOJ says it isn’t able to identify undercover officers and redact their names.
Wandering officers
In Wisconsin, police and jailers who were fired or forced out of a previous job in law enforcement only to get hired at another one, called wandering officers, increased by 50% from 2021 to 2024.
The total number of law enforcement officers in Wisconsin is sitting near record lows, according to investigations by The Badger Project. So the pressure to hire previously fired or forced out officers can be high, experts say. Chiefs and sheriffs need to fill positions, and officers fired or forced out from previous jobs already have their certification, which costs law enforcement agencies and new recruits time and money to obtain. Wandering officers are more likely to again commit misconduct on the job, studies have suggested.
A full list of names of law enforcement officers, which would include those separated from jobs outside of Wisconsin who now hold positions in the state, would alleviate a considerable information gap, the Invisible Institute and The Badger Project argue in their lawsuit.
The records requested would not include home addresses or family information.
The lawsuit
The Badger Project’s lawsuit is mainly being funded by The National Freedom of Information Coalition, through grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Legal Defense Fund.
The Wisconsin Transparency Project, a law firm dedicated to enforcement of the state’s Open Records laws, along with the University of Illinois First Amendment Clinic, filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs.
The parties are submitting written arguments, called briefs, to the Dane County Circuit Court, and then the judge will likely rule on the case, said Tom Kamenick, lead attorney for the Wisconsin Transparency Project.
The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.
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Categories: Law enforcement
There should be more openness, not less, to identify officers who have been let go or resigned in disgrace or were being looked at by Internal Affairs BEFORE they become our problem.
Certainly it costs more to prepare a new officer than to hire one who was let go, but police officers carry weapons and have a right of “life or death” over us. We have a right to demand they hire good ones.
It is being penny wise and pound foolish to hire a ‘reject’ because a “dirty Harry” type will cause more trouble in his/her new position, and taxpayers will have to pay for their mistakes.
Taxpayers pay for the training on one hand. On the other hand, in the case when a bad officer causes a lawsuit against the hiring entity, taxpayers are again asked to fork over the damages to the victim.
I suggest we do that before a bad officer kills someone, steals or rapes.
There is a lot of emphasis on the individual when talking about the environment in today’s policing. We should also consider the burden we are placing on these professions. Compassion fatigue, PTSD, expecting them to be ready for death by violence but deescalate at the same time. They are at a focal point of a societies turbulent circumstances with zero room for error. The VAST MAJORITY of people would make mistakes. I prefer them out there protecting us from danger and violence.
Our communities are a complex system where chaos is increasing. Our institutions systemically reward narcissism and psychopathy. A run away train of hyper competitiveness and rugged individuality eroding trust among us. And the instigators get insulated, the public never sees the actionable Intel they need for a proper investigation.
They certainly have a very difficult job to do, Jacob, and my heart goes out to those who do it well in spite of the low pay while being pressured to look the other way when one of them does something wrong. We need to think about these good officers.
One thing that is placing a great burden on this profession is the ability for every citizen to carry any gun, any time, anywhere, any day. [Even after they have been found guilty of domestic violence, like Mr. Mel Gibson]. We are asking valiant people who do want to fight crime and violence to walk into something that can turn into an ambush at any second.
If I had a magic wand and could change the situation, I would argue for
1/ higher pay for good police officers [who have never had a complaint against them-think pay grade].
2/ higher pay in general: That would allow the hiring of a better “product”, in this situation a better police officer.[The more money we pay them, the more choosy we can be, like any other profession.
3/ more use of tasers instead of lethal force. [That might save the autistic, the delusional, the addict and folks in the Wendy parking lot who are tired and unresponsive to an officer’s command].
4/ Perhaps, on some calls, some other force should be dispatched: doctors, psychologists… Not everything requires someone to use lethal force. [A uniform and a gun are incredibly threatening, even if you’ve done nothing wrong.] A white coat, not so much.
5/ Absolute interdiction to possess a gun if the person has been convicted for a violent crime.
6/ and, this may seem paradoxical: Less imprisonments for non-violent criminals. [This country imprisons more people per capita than any other nation on earth. That includes Communist China, Russia, Iran, Mexico -Maybe not El Salvador any more-] We need to stop this carnage: We lock up bread winners who could pay taxes, dislocate families, put children on the path to being homeless or go hungry, and each and everyone could be a tax payer but we now have to pay around $35,000/per person/per year, so we lose on both ends: less taxpayers, more dollars spent on incarceration, and of course, more violence.
As you see, the Justice system is quite sick at this point and a very comprehensive approach is needed. One tweak here and there just won’t cut the mustard. Police officers are just like the rest of the population: some are good, some are not. Some are “Joe Friday”, some are “Dirty Harry”. we need to sort them out… Among many other things we need to do.
You make some great points Cecile. Since we’re brainstorming I wanted to bring something else to your attention. We’re going through a cycle of increased chaos in our social order and these officers are at a focal point of a collective mental breakdown. Quite frankly, they are killing it, but a person can only do so much. In a life or death situation the mind shifts priorities, cognitive resources, it’s reflexive and inevitable. In situations like this it’s important to be grounded frequently and immediately. That’s why I think a specialized task force of executive coaches in department would be great. People with personal developmental experience, specializing in psychology and perfecting their edge on consulting with cops to stay grounded in the face of these stressors and bouncing back quick. An overzealously supportive task force at their side.