Barton investigates Milwaukee police

Investigative reporter Gina Barton turns her skills on the Milwaukee police department in her newest investigation. “Both Sides of the Law,” a project of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, exposes 93 police officers disciplined after the department determined they violated the department policy against breaking the law.

They all still have their jobs.

Barton’s investigation took two years and cost $7,500 in fees charged by the police department for the release of disciplinary records.

Even then, the information released was limited. The Journal Sentinel has a nifty graphic that lets users compare one complaint report released to the paper with a fuller version of the same. The file belongs to Officer Michael Pendergast, whose full complaint report was used as evidence in a 2009 civil court case.

The file the paper got listed six investigations. The full file, found in the court evidence, listed 26.

Kudos to Barton, whose investigative work is always thorough and fascinating, for also exposing how difficult it is actually to get public records.

Kudos also to the Journal Sentinel’s Lou Saldivar and Bill Schulz, who put together an interactive graphic that lets readers examine the individual records of all 93 officers.