Listen to News Conference
Sheriff David Clarke Jr.
Press Conference
Friday, February 26, 2010
Good afternoon. Thank you for attending.
This afternoon I signed an order recommending that Deputy Christopher Conell be terminated effective today for the circumstances surrounding his second OWI arrest.
In doing so, I once again place the outcome of this incident in the hands of the Personnel Review Board, asking that they not overrule the accountability that I have imposed.
Since becoming sheriff it was obvious to me, and anyone not suspending their sensibility that within the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office there was no accountability, no discipline, and no sense of direction. I knew that a culture change was in order.
I reminded our officers of the meaning of a sworn duty, and of the public’s reliance on the vital services that our profession provides. In establishing a Code of Conduct, I raised the bar of appropriate behavior and acceptable performance in this organization.
Unfortunately, the Milwaukee County Personnel Review Board thinks the standards are too high. I don’t.
The public expects a high rate of return on their expensive investment in government employees. They certainly deserve better than they received from the PRB in 2008, when that body set aside my recommendation to terminate Deputy Conell upon his first drunk driving arrest,
and instead reinstated him as a law enforcement officer. So here we are again.
For other department employees in county government it is reasonable to separate certain off-time behavior from their paid performance. But that is not the case for law enforcement officers. Apparently, the PRB believes that it’s OK for officers to be arrested for driving drunk and then return to their sworn duty as if nothing happened.
The Personnel Review Board is a faceless body that has the luxury of operating in anonymity and making decisions that affect the public behind closed doors. Their decisions rarely attract media coverage except in rare situations.
The Personnel Review Board has no true, democratic accountability. This is a body that has reinforced their belief that the needs of county employees outweigh the interests of the public. The Personnel Review Board is accountable to no one; not the voters, not the citizens, and not the taxpayers of this county. No other public entity or official lives in this vacuum.
In fact, the Personnel Review Board often makes decisions that negate what the voters of Milwaukee County elected me to do. That is, to maintain the good and honorable order of the members of this organization, to hold people accountable and to extract high performance from them.
Law enforcement officers occupy a position of great public trust, which calls for the very best from them. This forms the concept of being held to a higher standard, which we who wear the badge accept voluntarily. A higher standard is not a double standard; nor is it an unfair standard.
Granting the great authority and powers of law enforcement without the commensurate imposition of a higher standard would be unfair to the people we serve.
Character, adherence to the Code of Conduct, personal integrity, and daily commitment to the public’s trust form the legitimacy of any law enforcement organization.
Values do count in this organization. Unfortunately, when our words and actions are in opposition to what the Personnel Review Board believes should be expected, it erodes the public’s confidence in our ability to serve them.
In other words, how a person actually behaves is more important than how they say they behave.
The PRB’s 2008 re-instatement of Deputy Conell following his first drunk driving arrest sent a message to other officers that said, “It’s alright...Go ahead...you can behave just like everybody else.”
The public outrage that has been expressed in our local media over the past few weeks says quite the opposite. People expect more from their law enforcement officers.
As a law enforcement officer, this deputy has not modeled the behavior that we have demanded from the general public when it comes to the dangerous, sometimes deadly and risky behavior of driving under the influence.
Our agency has been on a mission to rid our roadways of the slaughter and carnage that results when people drive under the influence. Attacking OWI crimes is a cornerstone of our overall efforts. We have displayed this commitment through our formation of a regional multi-jurisdictional OWI task force.
We discuss and critique our strategies and results in the fight against OWI on a daily basis within our agency.
When one of our own engages in drinking and driving how do we reconcile it with the public or with the 1,429 people we arrested last year? In fact, the alleged actions and serious violations of Deputy Conell display a marked failure to even consider the well-being of those he has sworn to protect. It’s a slap in the face to his fellow officers.
But I have an obligation to the people of this county to root out those who exhibit behaviors that are not compatible with what the public expects from a law enforcement officer on or off duty.
The obligations of deputies are very high, and are critical to the success of this organization. In law enforcement, all officers are judged by the actions of a few. This may be unfair, but it’s human nature. The fact that the overwhelming majority of the men and women who put on the badge live lives of integrity pales at a time like this.
I do not feel that people are infallible. Nor do I ignore the reality of human limitations. However, that is no reason not to expect the very best from those who wear the badge.
I have sympathy for anyone suffering from any type of addiction, and sympathy for their loved ones who are indirectly impacted. But, at the same time, the onus is on the person to overcome and defeat the demons they face. We can’t want them to overcome an addiction more than the person affected wants to.
As compassionate human beings we all want people to defeat their addictions, but daring those demons by going to a tavern and staying until the wee hours of the morning is not what is prescribed in any treatment program I’ve ever heard of.
Our officers, including Deputy Sheriff Conell, voluntarily accepted the higher standards that accompany a life as a law enforcement officer. He was free not to accept this public trust, if he did not want to live up to it.
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