SHERIFF SHRUGS AT DEPUTIES' TRANSGRESSIONS

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. was rightfully angry the
other day at officials who shrugged their shoulders after a felon on
probation recently failed two drug tests. Clarke went so far as to
call Judge Joe Donald "soft."

It was easy to identify with the tough-talking sheriff's
frustration.

But now the question must be asked of Clarke: Why did he use such a
light touch himself with a half-dozen deputies who violated department
policy - and the U.S. Constitution - by entering an empty house without
a warrant?

Recall that two of the deputies were less than honest about the
improper search in their reports, and county prosecutors have said
they won't use the pair on the stand again.

All six walked with nothing more than a written reprimand and some
training on the Fourth Amendment.

"If you're going to fire every cop who violates the Constitution,"
Clarke explained, "we're not going to have many left."

Read that again. It's just a stunning admission for a guy who likes to
talk about his high standards.

Back in April, Detective Luke Chang and Deputy JoAnn Donner turned up
44 1/2 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $30,000, in the
trunk of an Oldsmobile Aurora that had been pulled over on I-94. Both
guys in the car were arrested.

A few hours later, Chang, Donner and four others - Detectives William
Theep, Outhith Latavong and Joel Streicher and Deputy Alex Martinez -
went to the residence of one of the two men who had been arrested.
According to a supplemental report released recently, the team found
the back door unlocked.

"Several officers, while acting in the position of community
caretakers, entered the rear door and conducted a protective sweep of
the apartment," Theep wrote in a supplemental report written six days
after the incident.

This information about the improper search was not mentioned at all in
Theep's original report or the one written by Chang. Theep's original
report has the group going into the apartment only after he gets the
OK from a female resident, something that happened later.

Clarke has since rejected the deputies' claims that they acted as
"community caretakers," meaning they didn't need a warrant because
they thought someone inside might need their help.

The improper search led District Attorney John Chisholm's office to
toss the entire matter. Not only did prosecutors decline to charge the
men for what was eventually found at the house - some weed, a handgun
and a shotgun - but also for the $30,000 worth of marijuana from the
trunk of the Olds.

Clarke said the other day that he was disappointed with his deputies,
acknowledging that several of them had been part of his elite targeted
enforcement unit.

Certainly, the twice-elected sheriff hasn't minded lowering the boom
in other cases. Just look at the growing list of deputies who have
been reassigned, suspended or fired - and then sued the county.

But Clarke said he didn't bring the hammer down in this instance
because, in his words, this was a mistake of the head, not the heart.

His point: The deputies aren't Keystone Cops - even if it might seem
that way.

"These are good cops, not career criminals," Clarke
said.

As for Chang and Theep, the two guys on the DA's do-not-use list, the
sheriff said he has assigned one to the airport and the other to the
jail. Neither will be allowed to work without a partner, he noted.

But that's not the end of it.

Clarke wanted to make clear that he wasn't happy with how Chisholm
handled the case. Of course, he said, the two men in the Olds couldn't
be charged criminally for the items found in the apartment. But he
said a "more aggressive" prosecutor would have gone after them for all
the dope in the car.

"He could have prosecuted the traffic stop, easily," Clarke
said.

That may have been tough to do with cops who aren't going anywhere
near a witness stand.

Chisholm said Wednesday that it would not have been ethical for him to
bring any charges because Chang was involved in both the car bust and
the improper search.

He said he had nothing against the deputies. When confronted, he said,
they were open and honest in acknowledging that what they had done was
wrong.

As for the written reprimands, Chisholm declined to say if those
punishments were appropriate.

Likewise, he said the sheriff should keep his nose in his own business
by trying to make sure his deputies are doing things in "the right
way." In this instance, Chisholm said, that didn't happen.

"For him to try to deflect blame, which is what he is doing, is just
improper," Chisholm said. "Take your lumps if your people do something
wrong, acknowledge it, correct it and move on.

"That's what professionals are supposed to do."

The case may be closed and the punishments handed out. But it doesn't
sound like this is the last we've heard of this debacle.