Fire and Police Commission affirms 7-day suspension for Milwaukee officer over failure to investigate

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission on June 20, 2025, unanimously affirmed a seven-day unpaid suspension for City of Milwaukee police Officer Benjamin Riviere for violating the department's code of conduct by failing to conduct a full investigation of a March 23, 2024, crash that left two drivers seriously injured.

The commission's decision follows testimony and evidence, including stipulated documents and body-worn camera recordings, presented at a multi-day disciplinary hearing. Assistant Chief Craig Sarno and Captain Liam Looney of Internal Affairs told commissioners the initial responding officers did not perform basic investigatory steps and released a likely suspect before District 7 investigators arrived.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the lapse cost investigators timely evidence and contributed to a loss of criminal prosecution prospects for the injured parties. Assistant Chief Sarno told the panel the executive command staff concluded the failure to investigate had been substantiated and recommended discipline that fell in the middle of the department's matrix for similar violations.

Assistant Chief Sarno, who described the executive review process, said the command staff watched the body-worn camera footage and considered the degree of harm to victims when deciding the appropriate sanction. Capt. Liam Looney, who reviewed the investigation for Internal Affairs, told the commission he believed "the fault in this investigation lay with Officer Riviere and Piasecki," citing that the first officers on scene did not remove the suspect from the vehicle, did not conduct standard field sobriety testing and did not ask basic investigatory questions.

Riviere and his counsel argued the officer had reasonable de-escalation concerns and that the new computer-aided dispatch system sometimes sends an out-of-district squad to stabilize a scene until the resident district arrives. The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) witness and other defense witnesses urged a smaller penalty, pointing to prior comparables in which officers received two to three days for related lapses. MPA counsel asked the commission to reduce the suspension to three days.

Officer Riviere testified and acknowledged mistakes. "I would apologize that things were not followed up on and that if I could have done more for them to seek justice, I would have," he said during his testimony. He also said he learned from the process and would change his practice about holding subjects on scene.

After deliberation in closed session, commissioners announced a unanimous decision to uphold Chief Jeffrey Norman's seven-day suspension for violation of core value/guiding principle 1.04 (failure to conduct a prompt, thorough investigation). The hearing examiner told Riviere the commission found the chief's discipline appropriate given the totality of the evidence and the seriousness of the injuries to the other drivers.

The commission advised Riviere of his right to seek judicial review and gave the parties the opportunity to waive the usual ten-day window for issuance of the written order; Riviere waived that period. The written decision will set the start date and technical details of the suspension.

Background and procedure: The hearing record includes stipulations admitting 18 exhibits (reports, videos), and the parties agreed to play two full body-worn camera videos for context. Internal Affairs assigned the matter to District 5 for investigation after supervisors in District 7 raised concerns. The chief and executive command staff reviewed the file, the body-worn camera footage, comparable prior disciplinary decisions and Riviere's personnel history before determining that a seven-day suspension was appropriate under the department's discipline matrix.

What comes next: The commission's written order will be issued and mailed. Under commission rules, Riviere has the right to seek circuit-court review of the administrative decision once the written determination is entered.