Milwaukee FPC says city failed to prove misconduct; Sergeant Kenton Burch reinstated

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission on Jan. 30, 2024, ruled that the City of Milwaukee did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Sergeant Kenton Burch committed the three administrative violations cited by the chief and reinstated him to the rank of sergeant, ordering repayment of related suspension pay.

The commission’s decision follows a multi-day disciplinary hearing on personnel order MPD-2024-39, during which Internal Affairs interviews, paper time cards and electronic payroll records were presented and witnesses on both sides testified. Commissioners said the city’s internal investigation and the evidence offered did not meet the legal threshold required to sustain the charges filed by the chief.

The ruling matters because it reverses the chief’s demotion and suspensions and highlights procedural and record-keeping problems the commission flagged in the Milwaukee Police Department’s handling of overtime and roll-call entries. Commissioners said they were troubled by inconsistent timecard practices, evidence of clerks making changes to paper cards and gaps in the investigative record that made it impossible to sustain the charges the city brought.

The city charged Burch with (1) failing to attend roll call before the start of his normal eight-hour workday, (2) inaccurately recording roll-call overtime and…