Journalism groups sue Wisconsin Justice Department for names of every police officer in state

MADISON, Wis., (AP) — Two groups of investigative journalists tracking police misconduct have filed a lawsuit in the hopes of forcing the Wisconsin Department of Justice to divulge the names, birthdates and disciplinary records of every officer in the state.

The Badger Project and the Invisible Institute filed the lawsuit last Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court after the Justice Department refused to release most of the data, citing officer safety and calling the request excessive.

“DOJ’s denial is not legally sufficient to outweigh the strong public policy favoring disclosure,” the journalism groups argue in the lawsuit. “The public has a heightened interest in knowing the identities of those government employees authorize to employ force – including lethal force – against the populace.”

Justice Department spokesperson Gillian Drummond didn’t immediately respond to a Wednesday email seeking comment. Neither did James Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the state’s largest police union.

According to the lawsuit, the groups filed an open records request with the Justice Department in November seeking the full name of every officer and extensive information about each, including birth date, position and rank, the name of their current agency, start date, previous law enforcement employment history and disciplinary record.

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