Claudia Levens
In June, a former Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office lieutenant resigned after being investigated and disciplined for witnessing an attack on a corrections sergeant and walking away, and for negligently firing his service gun in the workplace.
Three days later, he was hired by the Bayside Police Department.
In May, two investigations jointly conducted by the sheriff's office and the Milwaukee Police Department found that Jeremy Franke had violated standards of conduct during the two incidents in March, according to investigation records obtained by the Journal Sentinel and first reported by TMJ4.
Investigators found that Franke had failed to act while witnessing an attack on a corrections sergeant and later had negligently fired his service gun in a work locker room around other deputies.
Franke was demoted to deputy and given a 60-day unpaid suspension for the incidents.
Bayside hired Franke shortly before the suspension was set to start, and while Bayside hired him at essentially the same level the Sheriff's Office demoted him to, Franke avoided the suspension.
Why did Franke walk away from the attack? What did the investigations find? And why would a suburban police department make such a hire, and do it so quickly? Here's what the Journal Sentinel found out:
Investigation found Franke witnessed the attack and failed to act in violation of standards of conduct
On March 5, MCSO sergeant Randall Wilborn was ambushed by a recently released inmate outside the Milwaukee County Jail and stabbed several times. He suffered life-threatening injuries, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
“I was focused on fighting for my life,” Wilborn told investigators.
On March 7, the alleged attacker, Ronell Hart, was charged with attempted undefined-degree intentional homicide.
Franke told investigators he "saw the whole thing" unfold from across the intersection and walked away from the attack with the intent to call for help in the county jail lobby, since he had left his service weapon at home, according to the investigation records.
When Wilborn eventually approached Franke, asking for help, Franke realized it was his colleague. He then escorted Wilborn inside the county jail lobby and called for emergency medical service help, per the investigation.
Deputy Director at the Sheriff's Office David Rugaber told investigators the incident negatively impacted staff morale, and many felt that "Franke failed to act and could have done something to stop or mitigate the attack."
Franke had also told a sergeant he thought the altercation was merely "two bums fighting," according to the investigation.
"A human life was a human life," Rugaber told investigators. "And that really kind of wore upon the lieutenants a little bit."
Investigators eventually found Franke had violated standards of conduct.
They also found Franke had driven to work that morning without his service gun, which he'd left at home, in violation of a standard requiring members to carry duty firearms while operating a MCSO vehicle.
Several attempts to reach Wilborn over the course of two weeks were unsuccessful.
Attempts to reach Franke were redirected to then-Bayside Chief of Police Tom Liebenthal.
Investigators also found Franke had negligently fired his service gun
Just one week later, Franke found himself at the center of another internal investigation when he fired his service gun on March 14 in a substation locker room while other deputies were present.
Records from that investigation show that in doing so, Franke again violated standards of conduct.
Franke told investigators he had no idea how his gun fired a bullet and his finger was nowhere near the trigger.
Two separate supervisors analyzed the weapon and found it was functioning properly. They each told investigators that the trigger was pulled with "100 percent" certainty.
Franke resigned before disciplinary action went into effect and was rehired at Bayside
On May 1, Franke was demoted from lieutenant to deputy as a result of the first incident and was suspended for 60 days for the second.
Both disciplinary actions were set to take effect on June 11, but Franke resigned on June 7.
Three days later, the Bayside Police Department posted a picture on Facebook celebrating Franke's first day as a police officer in the village.
Bayside officials valued Franke's experience amidst ongoing staffing troubles
Former Bayside Police Chief TomLiebenthal, who retired in August, two months after hiring Franke, said the police department was aware of the investigation and the disciplinary actions when they hired Franke.
Liebenthal, who previously worked at the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, said that during the "thorough and rigorous" hiring process, Franke had been forthcoming about his time at the sheriff's office.
Liebenthal said the department hired Franke as a police officer, a position comparable to the deputy position the sheriff's office had demoted him t
He said Franke was hired during a time when the department faced heightened staffing challenges. The department valued his 22 years of experience in law enforcement, since Bayside officers average around six years of experience per person, Liebenthal said.
"It has been a big challenge to maintain staffing levels that are that are consistent with quality people over the last few years," said Liebenthal. "It's one of the most significant challenges that we face in this career right now."
In the months before Franke was hired, the department was preparing to be short five of the 13 total staff roles budgeted for, Village Manager Andy Pederson said. Pederson also independently reviews new police officer hires.
Two officers had previously resigned, following an investigation from The Badger Project, which revealed their names were included on a leaked membership list for the far-right, anti-government group the Oath Keepers. Others were injured or had expressed they were looking to leave the department, Liebenthal said.
As of Sept. 30, the department was only recruiting for one officer vacancy and is working through the recruitment process to fill the police chief position, Pederson said.
Bayside police chief retired after seeing hiring processes through, including Franke's
Franke's hiring came at the cusp of a period of transition at the Bayside Police Department, Liebenthal said.
Before the department hired Franke, Liebenthal had been hoping to retire but stayed on to help recruit more officers and oversee the transitions.
"I couldn't in good conscience leave at that point, so I decided to stay to get us through the staffing situation," he said. Liebenthal ended up submitting retirement paperwork on July 16.
His last day with Bayside Police was Aug. 16 when he was succeeded by Jeff Roemer, who is serving as interim police chief.
Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13
This local story is an example of why I started the "Cops Gone Wild" series: bad cops are rarely punished and, unless decertified, just move on to another police department where they continue to act badly and inflict harm upon innocent citizens. This occurs across the country. Taxpayers pay for bad cops' mistakes and their qualified immunity protects them from responsibility for their crimes. Judges, too, are just as bad as the bad cops. These are protected individuals who do not play by the same rules as the rest of us.
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