Cedarburg's police chief is facing a lawsuit for allegedly failing to train officers who conducted an illegal search
Cedarburg Police Chief Mike McNerney is among five defendants named in a lawsuit that alleges McNerney failed to train and supervise officers who conducted what the suit says was an invalid search warrant that did not specify an address for the search.
The suit, which alleges other violations, including a violation of Fourth Amendment rights, was filed April 3 in U.S. District Court of Eastern Wisconsin by Erik Kampa, who faces three drug-related charges allegedly connected to the search.
Cedarburg police officers Dustin Koehler and Samuel Peters, who are also named in the suit, executed the search warrant on Aug. 15, 2022, against Kampa.
The city of Cedarburg and ABC Insurance, which issues a policy of liability insurance to the city, are also listed as defendants.
Three days before being arrested and charged, Koehler presented a defective search warrant to Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Paul V. Malloy for a search of the residence he was renting at W63 N645 Washington Ave., according to the suit.
Under the search warrant, the areas for necessary information, including the name of the suspect, location of place to be searched, the items to be searched for and what crimes those items are evidence of, were marked as "Error! Bookmark not defined."
It's unclear why Malloy signed the warrant without the information.
After the search was signed by Judge Malloy, Peters questioned the legitimacy of the warrant, according to Koehler's bodycam footage on Aug. 15.
"Did you see this thing where it says, 'Error! Bookmark not defined?'" asked Peters.
"Yeah, it's all ... all their warrants have that on it all the time," Koehler responded.
"Why?"
"I don't know, I don't know why they don't just delete them out there, but they just leave them in all the time," Koehler said.
Following the search, the state moved to dismiss the criminal charges against Kampa after learning that the evidence seized during the search warrant was impermissible because the warrant was issued improperly.
McNerney, who first joined the department in 2000 and was later sworn in as chief in 2022, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 6 that he had not seen the complaint and wouldn't be able to comment on any pending litigation.
Complaint includes additional counts for civil and municipal rights violations
In the lawsuit, Kampa alleges his Fourth Amendment rights, which protect against unlawful search and seizure, were violated during the search warrant because the warrant failed to describe the person, place or things to be searched and seized.
"The law is the law. You can't just turn around and on the fly bust through the door," said attorney Nathaniel Cade, who is representing Kampa.
In connection with the allegations, the city of Cedarburg also could also be held liable if it's shown that their policy ignores warrants, or alternatively if the chief doesn't enforce the proper procedure of those search warrants, said Cade.
As a precursor to the lawsuit, Kampa filed a claim against the city, which the Cedarburg Common Council discussed in closed session March 13.
During that meeting, the city denied and disallowed the claim in full, according to city records included in the suit.
According to the complaint, Kampa is demanding compensatory and punitive damages in the amount determined by the jury, as well as costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees.
Following the filing of the complaint, the city of Cedarburg, the chief and the two officers will be served by a processor and will have 20 days to file a motion or an answer, either admitting or denying the allegations, said Cade.
Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawsuit alleges Cedarburg police conducted an illegal search
