MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee judge has ordered a split ruling on compliance for school resource officers in Milwaukee Public Schools.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Borowski found the City of Milwaukee in contempt of court on Thursday, and has imposed a fine of $1,000 dollars per day of non-compliance.
However, Judge Borowski also issued a stay for the order until March 15 if the Milwaukee Common Council approves all funding for the SROs, provides the names of the officers assigned and the schools they are being assigned to, and proof that the SRO training has been completed or scheduled for the officers.
The judge ruled MPS is in compliance with his order based on their unanimous approval of the funding for the SROs before the Feb. 27 deadline.
“Nothing would have happened if there wasn’t a lawsuit,” Judge Borowski said in Thursday’s hearing. “The city and MPS, neither one lifted a finger, did anything in 18 months until the suit was brought.”
Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke released the following statement Thursday afternoon:
“Since 2023, the City of Milwaukee has worked to comply with the law to deploy school resource officers. We will complete the work as quickly as possible. With the Judge’s stay of his order, we expect to fully comply with the law prior to any sanctions being imposed. The City is taking concrete steps to identify, train, and deploy school resource officers at appropriate locations in order to accomplish the shared goals of ensuring safety and compliance with the law.”
And a statement from Milwaukee Public Schools issued Thursday reads:
“At the onset of ACT 12’s passage, the District made every effort to work with the City of Milwaukee and with stakeholders to ensure compliance with ACT 12.
As we have shared, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) stands ready to implement a School Resource Officer (SRO) program as soon as officers are made available to the district.
MPS will continue to do everything within our power to ensure compliance with the law and to honor Judge David Borowski’s ruling.”
SROs are required by state law to undergo 40 hours of training with the National Association of School Resource Officers. But defendants argued the law lacks clarity about whether or not officers are required to complete the training before they can be stationed at a school.
“It’s not that complicated,” Judge Borowski said. “You’re not teaching an officer that’s already trained, that’s already sworn, to do brain surgery.”
On Wednesday, City Attorney Goyke filed a motion seeking relief from the order on the basis that placing officers before the specific training “places too much risk on City tax payers and is counter to the best interests of the City.”
Although MPS has not had official SROs since 2016, officers have been present for education and engagement purposes across the district.
“In 2023 and 2024, we were present in over 70 schools in the City of Milwaukee conducting engagement with officers and doing other things that are similar to SRO duties,” MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough said in court Thursday.
A police presence has also continued for incidents. MPD responded to over 3,000 calls for service at MPS schools in 2024 alone.
