FPC chairman won’t accept leave
DeVougas works for accused developer Haywood
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission authorized independent investigations into the release of police records regarding a sexual assault allegation against a powerful real estate developer and into whether rules were broken when the developer was given a voluntary interview about the charges at the Sojourner Family Peace Center, which includes a domestic violence shelter.
“I think that we will need total independence for this investigation,” Commissioner Angela McKenzie said at Thursday night’s meeting.
Fire and Police Commission Chairman Steven DeVougas rejected a commissioner’s call for him to go on administrative leave during the investigation even though he works for the accused developer and was by the developer’s side as he was interviewed by a detective about the sexual assault accusation at the center.
The votes to authorize the investigations come nearly two months after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported about a video that shows DeVougas, an attorney, accompanying corporate client Kalan Haywood Sr. when Haywood was interviewed by a Milwaukee detective investigating an allegation of sexual assault.
The story raised questions about whether DeVougas violated ethical standards by accompanying Haywood while also chairing the commission that oversees the police department.
While DeVougas claimed at
Thursday’s meeting that he would recuse himself from having “any vote or opinion on the investigations,” he continued to take part in the discussion throughout the meeting.
The Journal Sentinel also reported that Haywood was questioned at the Sojourner center, where police are only allowed to question victims, not suspects, according to Carmen Pitre, president and CEO of Sojourner. She did not know about Haywood’s interview at the center about the alleged sexual assault until told by a reporter.
Haywood denies the sexual assault allegation and has been neither arrested nor charged. The investigation remains under review, according to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
The authorization vote came a week after Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett sent a letter to the commission asking it to open a formal review “of recent events that are of concern to me.”
Barrett said in the letter that he was concerned about whether the video was released in accordance with department rules, whether it was appropriate to interview Haywood at Sojourner and whether it was appropriate for DeVougas to be present at the interview.
Commissioner Raymond Robakowski said DeVougas should be put on administrative leave until the investigations had concluded.
“My thinking here is, in the total picture of transparency, that during whatever investigation happens — and I am not accusing anybody of any wrongdoing — but until we have a final answer that it might be of value that we also put the chairman on administrative leave,” he said.
DeVougas said he understood Robakowski’s reasoning but felt it was flawed in a number of ways.
One reason, DeVougas said, was that it takes the focus off what he said was the “main” issue: “The unauthorized and illegal disclosure of Sensitive Crimes information that should have never been made public.”
He continued: “So, me being involved or in the mix is a casualty or is really a red herring.”
When pressed by McKenzie, DeVougas said he would not step down.
After the meeting, DeVougas called on the Journal Sentinel to release the source of the police records in the Haywood case.
Journal Sentinel Editor George Stanley said if there is a “red herring” in this case it is DeVougas’ attempt to shift focus away from the key question of whether justice is being pursued in a criminal case involving his boss.
“Fire and Police Commission Chairman DeVougas has a disqualifying conflict of interest regarding an accusation of sexual assault that has been made against his client and employer — he has no standing when it comes to making demands of anyone in this case, let alone an independent news organization,” Stanley said.
Stanley said the citizens are in charge of their government and taxpayers are eventually held liable for any damages caused by public officials’ misconduct and mistakes.
“The public has a right to know whether politically powerful men receiving taxpayer support are being treated in the same way as others accused of serious crimes in Milwaukee,” Stanley said. “Women in Milwaukee have a right to know whether powerful men who employ the chairman of the Fire and Police Commission will be investigated when accused of crimes in the same way as someone who doesn’t have friends and employees in high places.”
Stanley said the Journal Sentinel would continue its independent investigation of how police and city leaders are handling the assault charges, regardless of what government leaders choose to do.
“There are far more serious and important questions for city officials to answer than how the public learned about an unusual voluntary interview of a man accused of rape, at a place where assaulted women seek shelter, with the head of Milwaukee’s Police Commission at his side,” Stanley said. “The harder public officials try to bury secrets and shelter friends, the more determined we’ll be to bring the truth to light. This is why we need an independent press to keep an eye on all levels of government in our democracy.”
DeVougas at the meeting said he had requested an advisory opinion from the Milwaukee Ethics Board regarding his conduct. Like members of the Fire and Police Commission, members of the city’s Ethics Board are nominated by the mayor and approved by the Common Council.
“I am more than confident that I’ve done nothing wrong, but also in the spirit of transparency, like I said, I have nothing to hide,” he said.
Assistant City Attorney Peter Block told the commission that the confidential advisory opinion would not be released publicly unless DeVougas chose to release it.
When asked by a reporter after the meeting whether he would release that Ethics Board opinion once he received it, DeVougas said he wasn’t sure.
Last month, Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan asked the state’s Office of Lawyer Regulation to determine whether DeVougas violated ethics rules when he accompanied Haywood to the meeting. That review is ongoing.
DeVougas said Thursday that he had not heard from the Office of Lawyer Regulation and said he asked the State Bar to issue an advisory opinion as well.
Donovan had previously requested an opinion from the City Attorney’s Office about whether DeVougas broke any commission rules or attorney ethics guidelines.
The City Attorney’s Office said in a memo that he did not break any commission rules because those rules “do not address commissioner conflicts of interest, nor do they contain standards of conduct for commissioners. In short, there is no FPC Rule of which we are aware that Mr. DeVougas could have violated.”
At the Sojourner meeting, the detective conducting the interview indicated surprise that DeVougas was accompanying Haywood, the accused. The detective questioning Haywood told DeVougas that his presence was “odd” and he felt as if he were questioning “the chiefs,” according to video obtained by the Journal Sentinel. DeVougas acknowledged the awkward situation but remained by Haywood’s side during the entire interview.
DeVougas said he did not act as a criminal defense attorney representing Haywood during the interview, but rather represented Haywood’s real estate business in case it might be impacted by the investigation.
“I didn’t object to anything, I didn’t obstruct, I just sat there and took notes in order to advise the business how to proceed based on what I discovered,” DeVougas said Thursday.
Although the video showed DeVougas and Haywood discussing the police department’s sexual assault policy before the detective entered the room and began the interview, DeVougas maintained again on Thursday that he and Haywood did not know the nature of the case before the interview started.
He said that they were trying to be “good corporate citizens” and work with the department.
The woman who reported to police that Haywood drugged, sexually assaulted and urinated on her also said she was afraid because of Haywood’s political connections and power in the city, according to a police report obtained by the Journal Sentinel. Haywood’s company has been approved by elected city officials to receive $9 million in taxpayer-backed loans for ongoing developments.
Police and prosecutors have not answered questions about whether search warrants have been issued or any evidence gathered regarding her accusation.
After the meeting, DeVougas said details about who would conduct the investigations authorized Thursday would be determined by the Complaints and Discipline Committee of the Fire and Police Commission.
DeVougas is on the committee, along with Commissioners Ann Wilson, Fred Crouther, and Everett Cocroft. He reiterated that he would be recusing himself.
Asked Friday whether DeVougas should remain chairman of the Fire and Police Commission, Barrett said, “I think he should recuse himself from this matter.” He didn’t elaborate on what constitutes recusal.
“I didn’t object to anything, I didn’t obstruct, I just sat there and took notes in order to advise the business how to proceed based on what I discovered.” Steven DeVougas Fire and Police Commission chairman, who said he didn’t act as a defense attorney for Kalan Haywood Sr. during a police interview