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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - M
13 March 2007

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Milwaukee Police Department, W

Officer pleads not guilty

A Milwaukee police officer has been charged with two counts of battery of members of a north side church in December after officers chased a suspect inside during Sunday night services. Church elders burst into applause after Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced the charges against Shawn Humitz, 26, who was suspended this week. He is charged with kicking two church members and striking one of them with his nightstick.

"Thank God for the charges," Willie Lewis, pastor of the Family Worship Center Pentecostal Church of Holiness, said in the courthouse hallway.

The prosecution is the first against a police officer by Chisholm's new public integrity unit.

"We're now putting a laser focus on this issue. . . . This is not a one-shot deal by any means," Chisholm said.

Police officials did not attend the news conference, though Chisholm said they had been "fully cooperative" in the investigation.

According to a criminal complaint:

At least 24 officers ended up inside the N. 27th. St. church the night of Dec. 10, chasing a man who was eventually handcuffed at the pulpit. . Church member Jimmy Turnage asked officers for their names and badge numbers, which was when Humitz hit him in the face, knocked him down, then hit him with his baton and kicked him. A church elder who complained, Richard E. Eichelberger, 55, was then kicked in the groin by Humitz.

Chisholm said no other officers are expected to be charged, even though only one who reported being inside the church that night said he saw Hurwitz strike Turnage. No officers said they saw Hurwitz kick Eichelberger. Humitz had reported that he used "one focused strike with a hand to the right shoulder area" because Turnage was resisting arrest.

Each of the misdemeanor charges carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Humitz pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday afternoon and was released on a $1,500 signature bond.

Chisholm, in his third month as district attorney, called the case an early sign of "transformation" in the office from the policies E. Michael McCann, who was district attorney for 38 years. Although not critical of his former boss, Chisholm said having one prosecutor dedicated to examining allegations of police misconduct would be more effective than McCann's method of assigning all police cases to a top prosecutor with other duties.

Assistant District Attorney Douglas Simpson was assigned Feb. 19 to take the first turn as police-case specialist. He said the aim is to hold the county's 22 police departments to consistent standards.

"There's a limit to what they can do," he said. "We're looking for cases where they exceed that limit."

The church and its members filed a notice of claim against the city in January, though the city has not yet responded. Brookfield attorney Mark Thomsen, who represents the church, called the prosecution "a very good thing for Milwaukee."

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Article sourced from

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - M13 March 2007

Officer pleads not guilty

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - M
13 March 2007