The district attorney said Waterford Police Officer Sarah Polka was dishonest during an investigation into her son. Polka said that was untrue and payback for her advocacy of her department.

By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT

A Town of Waterford cop accused of lying to Muskego Police during an investigation into her son remains on the department’s payroll months after the town received a letter from the Racine County District Attorney disclosing concerns about her credibility.

Sarah Polka, a police officer in Waterford, was questioned by the Muskego Police Department in 2023 while they were investigating her son for a hit-and-run at a construction site in Waukesha County.

The early morning crash caused an estimated $78,000 in damage, according to Muskego Police, who believe alcohol was involved. Daniel Polka, now 25, was not charged criminally but received several municipal citations, including one for failing to notify police of an accident, as well as another for a hit-and-run involving property next to a highway.

When police questioned Sarah Polka about her son, she “specifically stated that her relationship with Daniel Polka was estranged,” wrote Muskego police officer Jeffrey Sartorius in his report, which was posted online by current Waterford Town Board Supervisor Robert Ulander. “Sarah further indicated that she had not spoken to Daniel in some time.”

But Daniel Polka called his mother’s phone right after the crash, according to phone records.

Sarah Polka told investigators her phone was used as a central line for the family business, and that other family members had access to it. She said she couldn’t recall if she talked to her son that night, who she said was snow plowing, or if it was her other son who spoke to him, according to a second report completed by the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office.

When asked if he spoke to his mother that night, Daniel Polka said “I guess,” but did “not seem sure of his answer and could not confirm with 100% certainty if this was the case,” according to the report from the sheriff’s office.

School Resource Officer Mike May, who is in charge of the Town of Waterford Police Department while they search for a chief, asked the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the case in April, a few weeks after the Racine County District Attorney sent the Town of Waterford a letter claiming Sarah Polka “exhibited dishonesty.” The Badger Project obtained the report from the sheriff’s office in July. It questioned whether Sarah Polka was dishonest with Muskego Police.

Sarah Polka’s phone number appeared 179 times in Daniel Polka’s phone records between March 25, 2023, and April 7, 2023, according to the first investigation by Muskego Police. The hit-and-run occurred March 26, 2023.

“These phone records clearly indicate that Sarah lied to me when I questioned her in regards to her recent contact and communication with Daniel,” a Muskego officer wrote in his report.

Sarah Polka denied lying to Muskego Police, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s investigation. She told investigators that her phone is used for the family business and that her other son, Joseph Polka, had access to it. Investigators were unable to speak to Joseph Polka, the investigation said.

“There is not enough discernible evidence to prove that Sarah Polka lied in an attempt to obstruct an official investigation,” according to the report from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office.

In March, Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson sent what’s known as a Brady disclosure to the Town of Waterford alerting it to Sarah Polka’s alleged dishonesty. 

“Brady” references U.S. Supreme Court cases Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States that together obligate prosecutors to disclose any evidence that could call a defendant’s guilt into question, like whether or not a cop who worked on the defendant’s case is known to be dishonest. For this reason, prosecutors often track cops who have Brady disclosures on file, according to an article from Wisconsin Watch.

“Officer Polka exhibited dishonesty in a personal capacity,” Hanson wrote in her letter to the town. “Should she become a necessary witness in any case, the materials from this investigation would reflect on her credibility.” 

In an email to The Badger Project, Sarah Polka noted that the district attorney didn’t interview her before sending the Brady disclosure. Hanson sent the letter to the town on March 12, 2025, and Sarah Polka was put on administrative leave on April 7, 2025.

Hanson said in an email that Brady disclosures don’t typically involve officer interviews. Hanson also cast doubt on the validity of the investigation from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office.

“The report and ‘internal investigation’ were so poorly done and missed obvious facts that were critical to the Brady determination,” Hanson wrote in her email. “I could not have possibly changed my mind based on what little the Kenosha (County Sheriff’s Office) investigator did.” 

Sarah Polka said she didn’t remember using the word “estranged,” but that it was possible, according to the sheriff’s investigation.

Sarah Polka told investigators that she may not have been close with her son at the time, but that she would still have had contact with him, especially through group chats concerning their family’s business.

The investigation into Sarah Polka was one of several spearheaded by former Waterford Town Chair Teri Jendusa-Nicolai and Ulander. Amid allegations of misconduct, several Waterford police officers were placed on administrative leave last summer, and in the interim, the department was managed by the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

Jendusa-Nicolai advocated for disbanding the Waterford Police Department and contracting with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office. She was voted out of office in April after two years as chair and seven years as a board supervisor.

“This is just another incident of harassment and retaliation that I have been subjected to by Teri Nicoli (sic) and Robert Ulander,” Sarah Polka wrote in her email.

Sarah Polka said that the Muskego Police investigation has been in her work file since January 2024. It’s because she advocated for the police department over the Racine County Sheriff’s Office that she became a “target” of Jendusa-Nicolai and Ulander, she wrote.

Ulander said those accusations were “complete and utter nonsense.”

Sarah Polka gave a presentation to the town board with proposals to cut costs and maintain the police department rather than contracting with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office. It was the accuracy of her math, which Ulander said was incorrect, and not her advocacy for the department, that was the problem, Ulander said.

Sarah Polka wrote to The Badger Project that May’s decision to request an investigation by the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office rather than the Racine County Sheriff’s Office was in order to avoid a “HUGE conflict of interest,” since the Racine County Sheriff’s Office stood to gain from contracting with the town and village for police coverage.

Sarah Polka, who worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for 25 years, the time needed to get a full pension, has since been reinstated to her position as a full-time patrol officer in Waterford.

Ulander, who remains on the town board, said the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office investigation was an exercise in “verbal gymnastics.” He noted that six officers have recently left the department through resignation or retirement.

Related issues in Waterford 

Officer Nathaniel Schweitzer, who was accused of being dishonest on his time cards, resigned from the Waterford Police Department last year and was recently promoted to sergeant at a nearby department.

Former officers William Jeschke, David Ferger and John Nelson, who applied for the department’s top job after former Police Chief Matt Johnson retired early, were similarly investigated. All have since left the department.

Ferger was also the subject of a Brady disclosure after he was fired from a part-time position with the Chenequa Police Department in Waukesha County. The department accused him of giving “conflicting explanations” for being late to a shift.

Officers are not the only ones being investigated, however.

At the behest of the Town of Waterford, private attorneys are investigating Jendusa-Nicolai and Ulander after Sarah Polka filed a complaint against them alleging a hostile work environment, said current Town Chair Tim Szeklinski, who took Jendusa-Nicolai’s seat in April and is a proponent of the Waterford Police Department. And Szeklinski is also the subject of an investigation by private attorneys after an officer at the police department filed a complaint against him, Ulander said.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.