Amanda Lang quit the Lannon Police Department after The Badger Project’s story examined why she had been forced out of a previous job in law enforcement.
Police arrested Brent Wilmot after he fled the altercation in 2021. A superior says the department gave him a second chance in 2024 and he has become one of their “better deputies.”
The first-place award recognizes managing editor Peter Cameron’s investigative reporting on wandering officers, those fired or forced out from previous jobs in law enforcement only to be rehired elsewhere.
After paying $450,000 to a man involved in a 2020 police confrontation, the department stopped using traffic stops to issue unrelated and outstanding citations last month.
The total number of law enforcement officers in the state has steadily decreased since the Wisconsin Department of Justice started tracking it in 2008. Efforts to reverse that trend may be working, experts say.
Oak Creek Police officers arrested Christopher Romero Sanchez in 2021 when he was a recruit officer in the city of Milwaukee. The DA declined to charge him, and his law enforcement career has continued.
With co-plaintiff the Invisible Institute, The Badger Project is seeking the names and work histories of every law enforcement officer in the state to continue its work on wandering officers.
Travis Karweik worked for the Greenfield Police Department for nearly four years, but resigned in 2021 while he was being investigated for accusations of reckless driving and other misconduct.
More than 300 active officers in the state were fired or forced out from previous jobs in law enforcement. Here are the departments that employ the most.
Sheriff’s offices in Waukesha and Milwaukee counties, Milwaukee Police Department employ the most wandering officers as the total number of police statewide continues its long decline.