- Police Brutality Watch

A secret John Doe investigation has been opened into the case of a man allegedly beaten by off-duty Milwaukee police officers at an after-hours party in the Bay View neighborhood, sources familiar with the proceedings said. The investigation was convened after several officers declined to fully cooperate with internal police investigators about the early morning incident on Oct. 24, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition they not be named because the proceedings are secret by court order. At the party, a 26-year-old Milwaukee man was severely beaten and, he told investigators, was sodomized with a knife by one of the officers. Similar to a grand jury, a John Doe investigation is closed to the public and is used by prosecutors to get testimony from resistant witnesses or suspects with a subpoena. The sources said up to 15 officers could be called to testify, both off-duty officers at the party and on-duty officers who first responded to the police call. Shortly after the victim arrived at the party on Oct. 23, words were exchanged and the men left. Safran said at least one person at the party called his client a racial slur. The victim, who asked not to be named because he fears retribution, is biracial. After the party, several of the off-duty officers told investigators that the 26-year-old man stole a police badge, that they were exercising police powers by following him out of the house and that a fight erupted. Safran said his client didn't steal anything. Police were called, and the victim, who had been severely beaten, was arrested on suspicion of theft, according to police records. Safran said he doesn't know of any formal charges being pursued against his client. No ambulance was called, and the victim was taken to the hospital in handcuffs. [more]