A disciplinary hearing panel on Oct. 14, 2025 unanimously found that Erica Means, a Department of Emergency Communications operator, violated Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) access policies by using a work computer on an off day to look up criminal-justice database information for personal reasons.

The finding came after testimony from Sergeant Latanya Diedrich of the Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs Division, director Tony Bueno of the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC), and Means herself. Hearing examiner Dennis Maroney announced the panel's unanimous Phase 1 decision and directed the hearing to Phase 2 to consider discipline.

Why it matters: CJIS access ties the city's emergency communications center to federal and law-enforcement information systems. DEC Director Tony Bueno told the panel that misuse of CJIS systems threatens the department's continued authorized access and could "cripple the DEC entirely" if federal rules are violated.

During an initial examination, Deputy City Attorney Robin Pedersen told the panel he expected a "relatively straightforward case," saying the city's evidence included system activity logs and supervisory reports. Sergeant Diedrich summarized the investigation: her review of system keystroke logs, building key-card entries and records in the department's reporting database showed Means logged into a workstation on July 31, 2024 and ran a name query later identified as a relative. Diedrich said Means admitted accessing the system during an interview.

Means testified she came to the DEC workstation on an off day to obtain an address to seek a restraining order after receiving threats. She acknowledged violating the security and use agreements but said she did not share the information and intended the lookup to assist law enforcement. "I did acknowledge that there are policies and procedures in place that I did violate," Means said. "I did nothing with the information. I didn't share it with anyone, and I did use it for ... a personal reason for me."

The city introduced training and certification documents into the record, including a Time System Security Awareness Certification Statement and an FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Security Addendum requiring employees to use those systems only for legitimate law-enforcement purposes. Means had signed those acknowledgments during onboarding and confirmed she understood they remained applicable on the July 2024 date.

Director Tony Bueno testified the department must adhere to CJIS requirements to preserve access to criminal-justice databases. "If we fail to adhere to that, if we fail to live up to that, we would lose access to CJIS information and and it would cripple the the DEC entirely, without that access," he said. Bueno told the panel he decided to issue a discharge/termination notice dated June 18, 2025, which the city presented as part of the Phase 2 record.

The hearing record shows the city received exhibits 1 through 6 into evidence, which include Means' signed security acknowledgments, the FBI CJIS addendum, a standard operating procedure for computer applications and a log of keystrokes provided by system administrators. Sergeant Diedrich testified she contacted the system security manager and emergency-communication system administrator to obtain key-card and system-catalog records used in the investigation.

Panel procedure and next steps: Hearing examiner Dennis Maroney announced the panel's unanimous Phase 1 finding of a violation and moved the hearing into Phase 2 for a determination of appropriate discipline. Both sides waived extensive Phase 2 opening statements; Director Bueno and city counsel presented testimony and argued the violation was sufficiently serious to warrant discharge because of the potential consequences to CJIS access. Means asked the panel to consider context and said she acted in desperation to protect her family.

The transcript does not record the panel's final Phase 2 disposition. The record in the hearing binder includes a termination notice dated June 18, 2025 that the city offered into evidence; Director Bueno testified he issued that notice. The panel cleared the room to deliberate in closed session on discipline following Phase 2 testimony.

Context and limits: The panel's Phase 1 finding is a formal determination that a work-rule violation occurred; Phase 2 is the factfinder's forum to assess discipline. The transcript shows Means acknowledged the access but disputed that she misused the data or shared it. Multiple witnesses and documentary exhibits underpin the city's case; Means said she lacked some evidence at the hearing because she was terminated and had lost access to her work email and files.

The hearing was conducted by hearing examiner Dennis Maroney with commissioners Jeff Spence, Bree Spencer and Miriam Horwitz on the panel. The record contains testimony from Sergeant Latanya Diedrich, Director Tony Bueno, Deputy City Attorney Robin Pedersen, emergency-comms staff identified in the investigation (Kiana/Keanna Moore, system administrator Bryce Pablinski and system security manager Chris Hernandez) and the appellant, Erica Means.

The panel's Phase 1 finding and the city's presentation of a June 18, 2025 termination notice set the procedural backdrop; a final disciplinary ruling by the panel is not recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.