Court orders Wauwatosa police to release records to Wisconsin newsroom following lawsuit
A Milwaukee County judge is demanding the Wauwatosa Police Department release records to a Wisconsin news site. The order comes a week after the newsroom filed a lawsuit against the department for failing to respond promptly to multiple records requested over the past nearly three years.
The Wisconsin Examiner, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom, alleges in its lawsuit that the police department hasn't promptly responded to four public records requests made by its reporter Isiah Holmes, including one from 2021, and the department has attempted to charge a total of nearly $2,000 for three requests.
"This was the last option before us," said Holmes, who has reported on police and surveillance in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa. "We weren't getting any acknowledgement that (the requests) were being processed, that they're being worked on, we didn't get any (cost) quotes on them for years."
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge William Sosnay signed an alternative writ of mandamus on Monday, meaning the police department now has thirty days to provide the Wisconsin Examiner with the requested records. Otherwise, the department must appear in court and explain why it should not provide the records.
According to the suit, the Wauwatosa Police Department failed to fulfill the Wisconsin Examiner records requests made on January 15, 2021, January 25, 2023, April 18, 2023 (hot lists) and June 26, 2023, and provided no explanation for the delays. It also alleges that the department "is attempting to charge excessive fees of nearly $2,000" for requests made on May 28, 2021, April 18, 2023 (PenLink), and August 1, 2023."
The police department Thursday morning released one of the outstanding requests for free, the Wisconsin Examiner told the Journal Sentinel. Holmes had made that request on June 26, 2023, for "records of administrative reviews for officer involved shootings."
The rest of the requests remain unreleased. Some of Holmes' requests refer to police conduct during Wauwatosa's frequent 2020 protests sparked by police killings, including former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah's fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole. Holmes reported extensively on the protests for the Wisconsin Examiner and was one of many whose personal information was detailed on the Wauwatosa Police Department's protester "target list."
Wisconsin Open Records Law requires record requests to be filled “as soon as practicable and without delay.” The Department of Justice policy states that 10 working days is a reasonable time for responding to a simple request.
Holmes submitted an affidavit with the lawsuit that includes copies of his requests and follow-ups to the department. Emails show the department attempted to charge exorbitant fees ― in one instance $953.98 ― for the time to review and verify certain records.
"It was hundreds of dollars just to do email searches," said Tom Kamenick, president and founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, which represents the newsroom in the lawsuit. "That's ridiculous because email searches are rapid."
The Wisconsin Supreme Court states that authorities cannot charge the public for the labor of reviewing and redacting records. Holmes reported in 2020 that an internal email suggested Wauwatosa Police Department used higher fees to "combat" public records requests.
The lawsuit also alleges the department was selective with what records they'd provide to the newsroom in the past few years. Holmes said he received certain requests, including those for pictures of the SWAT team, video from a SWAT conference and annual reports, while his earlier requests remained unaddressed. The department also connected him with a City of Wauwatosa administrator that was meant to help him with the requests, he said.
Responding to a reporter's request for an interview, Wauwatosa Police Sgt. Abby Pavlik told the Journal Sentinel in an email Wednesday that, per policy, the department does not comment on ongoing legal matters.
Holmes said that the delay in releasing records won't help the city heal from the events of 2020, adding to a pattern he said some in the city have of burying or trying to forget what was a traumatic or difficult time for many.
"In the spirit of moving forward in a better direction, this is an opportunity for the city and its police department to live up to the integrity and the transparency that it wants everyone to believe that it has," Holmes said.
Bridget Fogarty can be reached at bfogarty@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Court orders Tosa police to release records to Wisconsin Examiner
