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John Balcerzak

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John Balcerzak
Born1957 (age 66–67)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPolice officer
Years active1980–1991, 1994–2017
Known forKonerak Sinthasomphone incident
President of Milwaukee Police Association
In office
c. 2006 – December 31, 2009
Preceded byBradley DeBraska

John A. Balcerzak (born 1957) is an American former police officer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Balcerzak and Joseph T. Gabrish gained national attention in 1993, when they were suspended with pay and later fired for having handed over an injured 14-year-old boy to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer despite bystanders' protests,[1] as well as for the homophobic remarks made by the officers during the incident.

The officers appealed their termination and were subsequently reinstated with back pay of $55,000 each by Judge Robert J. Parins.[2] Balcerzak served as president of the Milwaukee Police Association (the police union for Milwaukee officers) from 2005 to 2009. Balcerzak retired from the Milwaukee Police Department in 2017.[3]

Jeffrey Dahmer incident

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Three women, Sandra Smith, Tina Spivey and Nicole Childress, discovered the victim, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, after he had managed to escape from Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment, naked, bruised, bleeding from his anus and heavily under the influence of drugs.[4][5] Childress called 9-1-1 and Balcerzak, Joseph T. Gabrish, and Richard Porubcan responded, along with a fire department ambulance.[6][7] Ambulance personnel thought Sinthasomphone needed treatment but were sent away by the officers.[8] Though the Laotian immigrant had been in the country for ten years and spoke English fluently, in his drugged and brain-injured state, he was unable to communicate his situation to authorities or to the three women.[6][9][10] Dahmer convinced the police that the boy was his 19-year-old lover against the protests of the three women.[11]

Smith recognized the boy from the neighborhood and the three women reiterated their concerns but were told to "shut the hell up" by the officers, who were convinced the incident was a domestic dispute.[6][12] The three officers returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer's apartment.[13] Balcerzak said he smelled nothing unusual but Gabrish said he did detect a foul odor, likely emanating from the body of Anthony "Tony" Hughes, who had been murdered by Dahmer three days earlier.[14][15] The officers listed the incident as a "domestic squabble between homosexuals" and did not otherwise act.[16] Approximately ten minutes after the police left, Glenda Cleveland, Childress's aunt and Smith's mother, called police and was connected with Balcerzak, who dismissed her concern and declined to take the names of her niece and daughter as witnesses.[5][6] Within an hour, Dahmer murdered Sinthasomphone by strangling him, performed oral sex upon his corpse, and dismembered him.[17][18] For the murders of Sinthasomphone and 15 others from 1978 to 1991, Dahmer would be sentenced to 16 consecutive terms of life imprisonment without parole in 1992.[19][20][how?]

In the aftermath of Dahmer's arrest, an audiotape of Balcerzak and Gabrish making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the "lovers" caused heavy criticism. They were fired while Porubcan was put on job probation for one year.[1][4][5][6] By failing to check Dahmer's identification, the officers did not learn that he was a sex offender with a 1988 child molestation conviction where the victim was Sinthasomphone's older brother, who was 13 at the time.[6] Milwaukee later paid the boy's family a sum of $850,000 to settle a lawsuit over police handling of the situation.[21]

Both officers appealed their termination. Judge Robert J. Parins controversially ruled in favor of the officers and they were reinstated in June 1994.[22][23]

Service as union official

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In May 2005, Balcerzak was elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association, defeating Sebastian Raclaw by a vote of 521 to 453. As president, he was criticized for failing to protect officers from mandatory overtime and not supporting African-American officer Alfonzo Glover,[24] who was charged with homicide on May 30, 2006, and later died by suicide on the same day.[25] By June 2006, the union vice president had resigned because of disagreements with Balcerzak's "leadership style".[24] A petition to remove Balcerzak was filed and a recall election was held in August 2006. The results were 213 for a recall and 397 to retain him. At an October 9, 2009, trustee election, Balcerzak was not re-elected as a trustee and vacated his position as president on December 31, 2009.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b Holewa, Lisa (September 7, 1991). "2 Milwaukee Police Officers Fired for Leaving Boy With Dahmer". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ "Commission Votes To Appeal Reinstatement of Fired Cops". Associated Press. May 10, 1994.
  3. ^ "MPD officer who gave teen back to Dahmer retires". WTMJ-TV. June 16, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Beck, Tobin (August 1, 1991). "Tape: Police thought boy was Dahmer's adult lover". United Press International.
  5. ^ a b c Worthington, Rogers (December 13, 1992). "After Dahmer: Police Try To Learn". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Worthington, Rogers (August 2, 1991). "Could Police Have Saved Young Victim? – 911 Tapes Show Officers Were In Dahmer's Place, Left Teen To Fate". The Seattle Times. Associated Press and Chicago Tribune.
  7. ^ Walsh, Edward (August 30, 1991). "Officers in Dahmer Case Are Cleared". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Estate of Sinthasomphone v. City of Milwaukee, 838 Federal Supplement 1320, 1324 (E.D. Wisconsin November 23, 1993), archived from the original on August 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Celis, William (July 31, 1991). "Family Sought New Life Only to Find New Pain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  10. ^ Anthony Shadid (April 6, 1993). "Dahmer Testifies Boy Had Drill Hole in Skull When Cops Questioned Him". Associated Press.
  11. ^ McMahon, Colin (July 28, 1991). "Race Kept Cry For Help From Being Heard, Some In Milwaukee Say". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Masters 1993, p. 178.
  13. ^ "Judge Dismisses Key Claim in Lawsuit By Dahmer Victim's Family". Associated Press. November 25, 1993.
  14. ^ Smith, Jerry (February 11, 1992). "Officer says he noticed nothing unusual about Dahmer". United Press International.
  15. ^ Imrie, Robert (August 2, 1991). "Officers Were in Dahmer's Apartment". The Times-News. Burlington, North Carolina: New Media Investment Group. Associated Press.
  16. ^ Barron, James (July 27, 1991). "Milwaukee Police Once Queried Suspect". The New York Times. New York City.
  17. ^ Anthony Shadid (April 6, 1993). "Dahmer, In Court, Describes Killings". Associated Press.
  18. ^ Beck, Tobin (August 6, 1991). "Dahmer charged with dozen killings". United Press International.
  19. ^ "Feb. 17th, 1992: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer sentenced". CBS News. February 17, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Jeffrey Dahmer's killer explains why he did it". CNN. April 30, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  21. ^ "Family Of Dahmer Victim Makes Tentative Settlement". Orlando Sentinel. March 22, 1995.
  22. ^ "Dahmer cops back on job". The Advocate. No. 660. Here Publishing. July 26, 1994. p. 9. ISSN 0001-8996. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  23. ^ Officers in Dahmer Case Are Reinstated Tulsa World
  24. ^ a b Chandler, Kurt (March 4, 2008). "Troubles at the Police Union". Milwaukee Magazine. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Quad (company).
  25. ^ Diedrich, John (August 9, 2010). "Jury starts deliberations in civil rights case over fatal shooting". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  26. ^ "Changes Ahead for the MPA". Milwaukee Police Association. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.

Cited works

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