Posted on Tuesday, 23rd March 2010 by Bruce
Patrick’s been doing an excellent job with both reporting and follow-up to problems with Milwaukee PD’s conversion to the OpenSky digital radio system.
And this morning comes word from WTMJ-AM’s John Jagler, who has also been dogging this story since it first came on the radar, that Milwaukee Police Department Sergeant Willie Murphy has been suspended for 20 days without pay for openly discussing problems with the troubled system. According to Jagler, the officer sent a text message to fellow officers, expressing concern over the system’s flaws, and urging them to protest.
Jagler reports that the Milwaukee Common Council will discuss the officer’s suspension in a meeting tomorrow.
Posted in Home, Open Sky Radios | Comments (33)
33 Responses to “Milwaukee PD sergeant suspended for discussing problems with OpenSky”
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March 23rd, 2010 at 8:43 am
In an environment like that…it’s no surprise more officers haven’t come forward. A 20-day suspension is ONE MONTH without pay. Regardless of occupation, I know a lot of people who live paycheck to paycheck or have little in the emergency fund. All the officers I’ve spoken with know full well that speaking out results in punishments like these, so they end up weighing the pro’s/con’s of speaking out vs. being able to put food on the family table and pay the mortgage. They convince themselves that if they heighten their own personal awareness…remain vigilant…exercise extra caution, they can avoid any dangerous situations where their radio may fail them…and that’s just sad.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:06 am
If this is true…how is this any different than coal miners speaking out about dangerous working conditions? Or whistleblowers within the tobacco industry who spoke out about health risks with smoking? Or any other example of insiders speaking out in the interest of public and worker safety?
Is the order to clamp down on guys like Willie Murphy coming from Tom Barrett? I’m sure he doesn’t want the stain of scandal like this hurting his image as he runs for Jim Doyle’s third term as Governor.
I praise John Jagler for sticking with this story.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:14 am
…and God bless Sgt. Murphy.
I got $20. Anyone else?
(I’d offer more if my situation wasn’t as precarious at the moment)
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:20 am
I was shocked when WTMJ broke this story. John Jagler says they will have more on the show tomorrow, that will be must listen radio for officers and those that are concerned with their safety.
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Isn’t Willie Murphy the sergeant who worked at IAD, then spoke out against what he believed was inappropriate conduct by “protected” members of the department, at a disciplinary hearing for an officer? I think he testified on behalf of that officer because he had the integrity to speak out against something wrong.
I also think he said he spoke out in part because of his religious convictions.
I think we should be thankful for people like Willie Murphy.
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I remember Sgt. Willie Murphy from when he was assigned to my Command at District #3. I was very impressed with him. A very professional Sergeant who wasn’t afraid to do the right thing, and it appears he hasn’t changed since then. This suspension is a Goddamn shame and tells me alot about Flynn. I don’t believe Willie would have openly discussed this fucked up radio system if it wasn’t for the total lack of leadership coming from Flynn on this matter. The Milwaukee Police Supervisors’ Association had better jump all over this now. They and the MPA should have been all over this when the problems first became apparent instead of leaving it up to someone like Willie Murphy to do their job (and Flynn’s).
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Anne, make sure you run this right into your boss and don’t give it your usual edit job. Give it to him word for word. I’ve already passed it on to a couple of my friends downtown.
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Anybody have any further info as to how Sgt. Murphy’s texts to fellow members of the Department made it to the media? Were these texts sent while he was on duty or off duty? I’m wondering if that subculture of lazy people with personal vendettas is still operating within the Department. Or maybe this is an example of one of those people who will do whatever it takes to get promoted by Flynn. I’ve already seen evidence of that. My advice to the warriors is to rally around Sgt. Murphy now. Show him your support and be vocal about it.
March 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
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March 23rd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I told all y’all Flynn was a bagman for the Democrat party.
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:40 pm
You were right PCD.
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Response from MPD
I have received the following from the Milwaukee Police Department, it includes a statement from the chief, the re-release of this memo regarding OpenSky and the actual complaint against Sgt. Willie Murphy.
Statement from Chief Edward Flynn.
You can read the complaint made against Sgt. Murphy, here.
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
The Journal Sentinel has coverage. The comments are very supportive of Sgt. Murphy.
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Hopefully someone will let us know the date, time and location of the appeal hearing before the FPC. If I’m in town, I intend to be there to support Sgt. Murphy and I hope the room is packed with coppers and supervisors too. Let the FPC, and Flynn, know how you feel and you don’t have to say a word. Just be there for Willie. It will mean alot to Willie too.
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
According to TMJ4 6PM news tonite, Sgt. Murphy used his private phone, off-duty, to text officers, telling them to not make traffic stops until radio communication safety is restored. This in no way is ‘an illegal work stoppage’ nor did his actions ‘jeopardize public safety.’ It was a radio usage ’stoppage’ to ensure radio clearances for higher safety-priority usage. I can only assume, from Glenn’s praise of Sgt. Murphy, that Sgt. Murphy did what he did purely for officer safety. He is to be congratulated for doing this and not suspended for 20 days. Flynn said that this is not a ‘whistleblower’ situation. Bullshit. Check this out: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-whistleblower.htm# Sgt. Murphy, hopefully with the assistance of the MPSO, has 30 days to file a complaint with the Dept. of Labor (OSHA). Officers injured or killed because of poor radio communications is ‘contrary to the public interest of protecting our community’ Chief Flynn!! Cut the puppet strings from the Puppet Master (Barrett) Chief Flynn, grow some stones and rescind your ridiculous suspension. Sgt. Murphy is a hero in my mind. I will gladly participate in a fund raiser to allay living expenses when the suspension takes effect. If Flynn is worried about a ‘work stoppage’, he just might get a complete traffic stoppage which results in a revenue stoppage. Oh Mr. Puppeteer, you wouldn’t want that now, would you???
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Achoo! Damn, I feel a ‘flu’ coming on and am feeling ‘blue’ about it. I hope it’s not contagious!!!
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by BRedenz: More quality reporting from @WTMJohn. MKE PD officer suspended 20 days for calling out troubled radio system. http://tinyurl.com/ykudrez...
March 24th, 2010 at 7:32 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by peterepublic, skamphax0r, Bruce J Redenz, John Schneider, Corey Kopenski and others. Corey Kopenski said: RT @peterepublic: I am telling you folks, this Opensky thing is mushrooming with the suspension of a fine officer: http://ow.ly/1qd2M & … [...]
March 24th, 2010 at 8:46 am
From Flynn’s memo:
The current consoles were bought long before the radio system was field-tested (in 2003) and have been a documented source for many of the radio problems reported by our officers.
I insist Flynn be charged under Rule 4 Section 155.00 and, given the department-wide and public release of said memo, be suspended for 90 days without pay.
March 24th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Don’t know how long it will stay there, but I just posted a rather scathing comment under the Urinal/Sentinel story linked to by Patrick.
March 24th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Just heard Meg McKenzie, WISN radio 1130AM, completely misinform listeners about Sgt. Murphy’s intentions. I realize she’s just a news reader, but someone over there needs an awakening. Just one more reason why I despise most of these media people.
March 24th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Glenn, I heard it as well. Her “report” was completely wrong.
March 24th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Well, since they seem to be having a problem doing their job, maybe this will help them:
Sgt. Murphy worked for me briefly when I was the Captain of District #3 and impressed me very much as a dedicated member of the Department with integrity and high ethics (which is more than I can say for alot of other supervisors I encountered - some of whom are still there acting like Democrat Congressmen and doing whatever they have to do to get themselves promoted). He was thought highly of and was assigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau too. This kid is a good police supervisor and cares about the coppers and getting the job done safely and efficiently. The fact that he was frustrated enough to do this tells me that he still cares and is frustrated with the very apparent lack of effort to fix this problem on the part of Flynn, the MPA and the MPSO. This is no different than putting cops out in one man squads and then expecting them to stop and FI multiple suspects or drive down an alley at 2AM to check out several people walking down the alley when they know that they may not get backup even if they can get a message out on a busy radio. But then only someone who has actually worked the street and who gives a shit would know that. Anyone who has been in the field and an active Police Officer (as opposed to those who simply drive around building resume`s to become cab drivers when they retire) understands how dangerous this radio problem can be and Willie Murphy is very obviously concerned enough to want to prevent the dangers that so far seem to be ignored by Flynn and both unions who should have been making noise about this radio problem long ago.
March 24th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
The Common Council agreed to extend $952,000 of borrowing authority for the Police Department’s OpenSky digital radio system
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/89014587.html
March 24th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Normally folks tend to jump the fun on 1st Amendment violations because they don’t understand that it only prevents government from penalizing someone for their speech, nothing else.
But since an officer’s employer is essentially the government, wouldn’t this be a 1st Amendment violation?
March 24th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
It’s a fine line for cops Jaeson. In this case I firmly believe that what Sgt. Murphy did was out of pure frustration as Flynn and others responsible have allowed this well documented and very obvious problem to go on far too long after it was discovered. It’s almost like finding out that your ammunition is defective but telling the cops to use it anyway until something can be done - but then not doing anything to correct the problem because you don’t want to risk getting on the wrong side of the Mayor with your budget. At what point do you, as a responsible and conscientious supervisor, step forward and tell your troops not to take any unnecessary chances? I’ve done it many times throughout my supervisory career, and I was a gung ho traffic stop kind of guy but in this case I can completely understand why Murphy would do this and I believe Flynn should have taken a completely different approach with Murphy and recognized what I recognize.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
When Flynn thought there was a problem with Glock Model 22’s he replaced them with S&W .40’s. He considered it a safety issue and immediately dealt with it.
This is a much more expensive problem but borrowing money to throw at this incredibly flawed system when there are other options available is just pure asinine stubborness.
Sgt. Murphy, you are a leader, looking out for your troops. That to me outranks the topheavy Blue Falcon command staff you have to deal with.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
S&W is a Massachusetts company. With Flynn, he’s still carrying the bag for Massachusetts Democrats.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Sgt. Murphy’s suspension will surely be rescinded by the Fire & Police Commission. Oh wait……..that commission is appointed by Barrett & Flynn has Barrett as his PuppetMaster. Sgt. Murphy surely is a whistblower & the US Dept. of Labor, via OSHA, will probably rescind the expensive punishment, hopefully with punitive damages. Paul Bucher was also a whistleblower about an alleged felony adulterer. He wasn’t penalized, nor was the felon he blew the whistle on! 20 days without pay for being concerned about officer safety is a stiff rap. The alleged felonious adulterer with his ’stiff rapping’ of another’s wife went unpunished. Of course the good Sergeant didn’t have 4 gold stars on his shoulders. After all is over and done with, Sgt. Murphy should be promoted to Lieutenant and put in charge of the Police Officer Stress Team (POST). He did a great job and I’m so very proud of him.
March 24th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
You made an excellent point in an earlier comment, Howie. What Murphy advocated was for officers to limit discretionary police work, which is what traffic stops are considered. He wasn’t advocating that officers stop answering radio calls or look the other way when they encounter criminal activity. He was advising them to alter their tactics and take extra precaution in their duty.
Has anyone actually looked at the rule Murphy allegedly violated? It has nothing to do with a work stoppage. It forbids dept members from making public information that degrades public safety or enables criminal activity. He didn’t make anything public. For Flynn to say:
“Advocating for police officers to refuse to do their job is contrary to the public interest of protecting our community.”
That’s an overblown statement that dishonestly reflects what Murphy did. As for the “our community” portion, I suspect Murphy has way more invested in this community than Flynn ever will. Flynn is treating Milwaukee like just another stepping stone. He isn’t raising a family here…he hasn’t established a permanent residence here…Flynn is just a mercenary hired to do Barrett’s bidding.
March 25th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Roland, Sgt Murphy’s opinion is obviously a burr in the saddle of Chief McBride. The Chief is clearly a capable man, and is clearly a Political man as well. Murphy didn’t refuse to do policing. Murphy tried to work within channels to get a broken system fixed. Chief McBride took exception to Murphy continuing to press an issue that does not reflect well on the Chief’s leadership. Remember Mike Sandvick?? He dared push the issue of VOTER FRAUD. His career ended.
Chief Jessica, has the right to expect his staff to operate within the rules and Chain of Command. However. Sgt Murphy was doing just that, and had an obligation to the rank and file to keep them safe and to do whatever he could to further his concerns to the aforementioned superiors of Command. I know Chief McBride felt confronted and he felt Sgt Murphy may have been “insubordinate”, but Sgt Murphy played the game well.
Well played Sgt Murphy. Godspeed.
March 25th, 2010 at 5:57 am
It seems clear that our man Flynn has been far to busy dealing with open arms (and legs) to worry about open sky.
March 27th, 2010 at 6:57 am
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