Police officer who punched a handcuffed woman in the face is reinstated.
Milwaukee Cop Richard Schoen was fired in May of this year after his superiors saw a dashboard-camera video that shows Schoen climbing into the backseat of his cruiser to repeatedly punch a handcuffed woman in the face. He's now getting his job back despite the objections of Milwaukee's police chief and mayor.
According to a FOX 6 story published upon the video's release, Schoen arrested Jeanine Tracy for being “argumentative and using profanity” during a traffic stop. While in the backseat of the police cruiser, she yelled and stomped her leg, complaining that it hurt.
Upon arriving at the station, Schoen tried to pull Tracy out of the backseat of his cruiser by her shirt. When Tracy refused to move, Schoen went around to the other side of the car, climbed into the backseat, and began punching Tracy in the face. Schoen then dragged her out of the backseat of his cruiser by her hair. All of this was captured by Schoen's dash cam. (What was not captured, the department says, is Schoen kneeing Tracy in the stomach after getting her out of the car.)
Department higher-ups wasted no time firing Schoen for his behavior.
“The evidence was very strong and there was no reason to delay,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn told FOX 6 in May. “We took appropriate action, and now it will be in the hands of the review authorities.”
Ah yes, "review authorities." Wisconsin, like almost every state in the country, has a special bill of rights for cops (read more about Police Bill of Rights here). One of the privileges it provides officers is a mandatory review of their termination; in this case, by Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission.
And do you know what that review concluded? That Schoen gets his job back.
From yesterday's report by Milwaukee's NBC 4:
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office told TODAY'S TMJ4 they got the case last year and they also consulted with the U.S. Attorneys office.
Both decided that no criminal activity took place.
One of three commission panel members voted to fire Schoen.
The others voted to suspend him for 60 days.