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The Onalaska Police and Fire Commission on Wednesday fired Investigator John Walker, a 24-year police officer, agreeing with Police Chief Jeff Trotnic that Walker violated departmental policies and procedures and that the violations warranted his termination.
Trotnic claimed Walker failed to follow departmental policies on eyewitness identifications, showing a witness only one photograph of a juvenile in a July 17 car break-in investigation rather than a variety of photos. Walker then tried to cover that up by telling another employee, Kari Neumann, he had done it incorrectly and asking her to help him arrange a proper lineup and then asked her not to say anything about the earlier procedure.
The commission stated the actions of Walker “in failing to follow the eyewitness identification policy and knowingly covering up the violation” compromised the integrity of the Onalaska Police Department.
In the commission’s unanimous vote, members expressed concern for the constitutional rights of citizens.
“The issue of violating an individual’s constitutional rights and attempting to hide it goes to the core of what it means to live in a free and democratic nation,” the commission’s decision stated. “One may argue that this only involved ordinance violations. One may also argue that if this would happen on an ordinance violation, what else would happen in the event of a felony. Both arguments miss the point, that being citizens of this nation must rely on and have absolute trust in the police department following due process and not covering up actions which interfere with those rights. … Clearly any type of reprimand or suspension period would be an ineffective response to a very serious violation of the constitutional rights of individuals in the city of Onalaska.”
Mary Anderson, chairwoman of the PFC, said the commission wanted to send a clear message to police officers.
“I hope we are sending the message that the chief expects honesty in all their doings, and he intends to uphold that,” Anderson said.
The testimony of Trotnic and Assistant Chief Troy Miller that they could not trust Walker if he were to remain on the force, even in another capacity, carried a lot of weight with the commission, Anderson said.
Walker’s attorney, Andrew Schauer, said the Wisconsin Professional Police Association is disappointed in the commission’s decision.
“We believe Investigator Walker’s explanation of his actions were credible,” Schauer said. Walker had admitted to the violations, but Schauer said the violations “in the worst case shouldn’t be the end of a distinguished career in law enforcement. That the commission found it appropriate to mention three times an incident 20 years ago but not the 18 commendations in his file, is disappointing.”
Schauer said he and his client haven’t discussed whether to appeal.
“It was the right decision,” Trotnic said. “But it is also not a real pleasurable end of the day. Although an end to the means we needed, it is a hardship on John and on his family. It’s not an easy thing to do to take away someone’s career.”
Trotnic said he was proud of Neumann, the department secretary, for coming forward with the information.
“I can’t say enough. The constitutional rights violation would not have been known had it not been for Kari Neumann coming forward to the administration. I’m very proud of Kari for taking the initiative to do the right thing.”
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