Sheriff shirks duties, but wants more pay

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke isn't doing his job, and now wants Gov. Jim Doyle to bail him out. Lisa Kaiser in the Shepherd Express:

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has made it be known that he’s a firm believer in personal responsibility. In fact, the sheriff, who claims to be a Democrat, wrote in an essay titled “How One Becomes a Republican” that he “favors self-reliance over government social service programs.”

So it comes as a bit of a surprise that Clarke isn’t taking responsibility for one of his department’s most important duties—patrolling Milwaukee County’s expressways.

Milwaukee County is unique in that, according to state law, the expressways are the responsibility of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department. In return, the sheriff receives more than $3 million from the state Legislature and can also receive money from the federal government and other sources. In other counties in Wisconsin, state troopers are in charge of expressways.

But Clarke wants to change that. In a letter to Gov. Jim Doyle, Clarke asked to be relieved of the responsibility of keeping Milwaukee County’s freeways safe, at least until Labor Day. And if Doyle couldn’t do that, then Clarke wanted an additional $700,000 to pay for more help on the freeways...

A report released in January by the Milwaukee County Department of Audit shows that the Expressway Patrol Unit is suffering under Sheriff Clarke’s leadership.

According to the audit, calls for service have increased 29%, reported accidents have increased 14% and, perhaps more worrisome, response times involving accidents in which someone is injured have increased 40%.

A big part of the problem is Clarke's decision to reduce freeway patrols and assign deputies elsewhere.

Now, with attention focused on violent crime in Milwaukee, Clarke is trying to cash in and get the state to take over freeway patrol -- while continuing to pay his department to do it. That's not something the governor, the legislature, or the taxpayers are likely to want to do.

It's time for Clarke to practice what he preaches and take responsibility to do the job taxpayers are paying him and his department to do.