The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council gives Openness in Government Awards, or Opees, to recognize outstanding efforts to defend open government, as well as highlight threats to it.
The Badger Project claimed its second “Opee” award from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council on Monday. The announcement, issued ahead of national Sunshine Week, March 15-21, honors the nonprofit for its ongoing efforts to investigate police misconduct throughout the state and take police agencies to court if they refuse to comply with open records requests.
“This nonprofit news outlet has been requesting records from police departments around the state about internal investigations of police officers and suing when they are not provided,” the council said in a press release. “In 2025, it filed three such lawsuits — against a police department in Racine County, the state Department of Transportation and St. Croix County. All led to the release of records. The Badger Project is now appealing St. Croix County’s refusal to pay attorney fees, which could lead to the overturning of a deeply problematic state Supreme Court decision. Fingers crossed.”
The nonprofit also won an Opee in 2023.
Using public records from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, managing editor Peter Cameron found that just over 1 percent of the state’s approximately 13,500 certified active law enforcement officers have been fired or forced out from previous jobs in law enforcement. Those 200 officers — some of whom faced allegations ranging from sexual harassment to drunken fights — were ultimately rehired by law enforcement agencies elsewhere in Wisconsin.
The nonpartisan Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council — now in its 20th year of issuing Opees — granted awards in five additional categories.
The full list of this year’s Opee winners is available here.
Winners have been invited to appear at a free public event in Madison on March 19.
Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.
The Badger Project is an independent, reader-supported news nonprofit in Wisconsin.
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