The Milwaukee Police Department on Thursday acknowledged the “professional shortcomings” of an officer who took a domestic violence report from Bobbie Lou Schoeffling less than two weeks before she was killed in a domestic violence-related homicide.
The department addressed the officer’s actions in a public statement days after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published online an investigation into Schoeffling’s death, finding that police, probation agents and prosecutors missed the full scope of an escalating series of domestic violence allegations in the final 10 months of her life.
The Journal Sentinel obtained security video through a public records request that showed Schoeffling reporting an assault by her ex-boyfriend at the front desk of Milwaukee Police District 3 on July 15, 2022.
Schoeffling told Officer Shawn Toms that her ex had beaten her and ripped out her hair in front of her children while they were in a car about 30 minutes earlier. The security video showed Toms appearing to blame Schoeffling for the abuse she suffered, putting the responsibility on her to hold her ex-boyfriend accountable and calling her derogatory names after she left the lobby.
The footage has sparked outrage, including from Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson who said this week that “nobody should be made to feel belittled or unheard or dismissed in the way that the victim in this case was made to feel.”
The Journal Sentinel had requested interviews with Police Chief Jeffrey Norman or another police official prior to publishing the article. Those requests were denied. A department spokesman did answer several policy questions and released a statement in December that said the agency “takes community member reports of any and all violence very serious (sic). MPD holds our members to the highest level of integrity.”
In the statement released in response to the article, the Milwaukee Police Department said “professional excellence and compassion are the expectations for all of our department members” and the agency is working with community partners on “best practices” and closing “any institutional gaps.”
“We understand the important role empathy plays when interacting with survivors of domestic violence,” according to the police statement.
Norman declined to speak with a Journal Sentinel reporter who approached him Thursday afternoon after a public event and referred to the statement issued earlier in the day. He later agreed to an interview next week.
The statement did not provide detailed information about changes within the department or possible steps the agency is taking to hold Toms, the officer in the video, accountable. Earlier this week, a city official with knowledge of the situation said police officials planned to examine the earlier review into Toms’ conduct.
Journal Sentinel investigation led to internal review of officer
Toms was the subject of an internal review after the Journal Sentinel raised questions about the video in December.
The review did not go to internal affairs. Instead, two sergeants in his district reminded Toms that the department’s code of conduct calls for officers to treat members of the public with dignity, respect, courtesy and professionalism, according to a memo in his personnel file.
Toms’ conversation with Schoeffling “could be construed as disrespectful,” Sgt. Gregory Byers wrote.
Toms said he would not let it happen again, the memo says.
The police statement on Thursday noted the department has committed more resources to the county’s highly effective Domestic Violence High Risk Team and is working to partner with culturally specific domestic violence organizations in the city.
Earlier in the week, the mayor pledged to work with the Police Department and the city’s Fire and Police Commission, a civilian oversight board, to make sure officers are treating domestic violence victims, and all crime victims, with respect and dignity.
“We should be working to make sure that things like this do not happen in the future,” Johnson said.
Where to find help
- The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
- The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at 414-933-2722.
- We Are Here Milwaukee provides information on culturally specific organizations at weareheremke.org.
- The Women’s Center in Waukesha has a 24-hour hotline at 262-542-3828.
- The Asha Project, which provides culturally specific services for African American women and others in Milwaukee, provides a crisis line from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 414-252-0075.
- The UMOS Latina Resource Center in Milwaukee offers bilingual, bicultural, domestic violence, sexual assault and anti-human trafficking supportive services and operates a 24-hour hotline at 414-389-6510.
- The Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center offers culturally sensitive, trauma-informed services for those who have experienced domestic or sexual violence and can be reached at 414-383-9526.
- Our Peaceful Home, which serves Muslim families and is a program of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, operates a crisis line at 414-727-1090.
- The Hmong American Women’s Association, which serves the Hmong and Southeast Asian community, has advocates available at 414-930-9352 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin has a statewide directory of resources at endabusewi.org/get-help.