John Balcerzak
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John Balcerzak is a police officer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and former president of the Milwaukee Police Association, having served in that post from 2005 to 2009. In 1991, he was fired for having handed over an injured victim to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, despite the victim's protests. He appealed his firing and was subsequently reinstated
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[edit] Dahmer incident
Two women, Sandra Smith and Nicole Childress, discovered the victim, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, after he had managed to escape from Dahmer's apartment, naked, bleeding from the rectum and under the influence of drugs. They called 911, Balcerzak and his partner Joseph Gabrish were dispatched. Though the Laotian immigrant had been in the country for ten years and spoke English fluently,[1] in his drugged and brain-injured state, Konerak was unable to communicate his situation to authorities. Dahmer found the boy with the police and convinced them that the boy was his 19-year-old lover (in fact Sinthasomphone was only 14). Smith and Childress were convinced that Sinthasomphone's life was in peril and tried to save the boy. However, Balcerzak and his partner chose to believe Dahmer and allowed him to keep Sinthasomphone. Dahmer later sexually abused, killed, and dismembered the boy.
Balcerzak and Gabrish were terminated from the Milwaukee Police Department[2] after their actions were widely publicized, including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having reunited the "lovers". The officers had never checked the boy's ID because they said he appeared to be 19 years old. The officers did not check Dahmer's identification; had they done so, they would have discovered that Dahmer was a sex offender previously convicted for molesting Sinthasomphone's older brother.[3]
Both officers later appealed their termination, won, and were reinstated.[4]
[edit] Service as union official
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, who was charged with homicide and later committed suicide.[5][3] By June 2006, the union vice president had resigned because of disagreements with Balcerzak’s "style of leadership". 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, John Balcerzak was not re-elected as a trustee, thus having to vacate his position as president on December 31, 2009.[6][dead link] Michael V. Crivello took his place as President of the Association.
[edit] References
- ^ Celis, William (July 31, 1991). "Family Sought New Life Only to Find New Pain - New York Times". The New York Times (New York: NYTC). ISSN 0362-4331. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/31/us/family-sought-new-life-only-to-find-new-pain.html. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
- ^ Johnson Publishing Company (16 December 1991). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. pp. 28–. ISSN 00215996. http://books.google.com/books?id=V7oDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ a b Bardsley, Marilyn. "Jeffrey Dahmer - Serial Killer and Cannibal — More Murders, More Arrests — Crime Library on truTV.com". trutv.com. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/8.html. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
- ^ Here Publishing (26 July 1994). The Advocate. Here Publishing. pp. 9–. ISSN 00018996. http://books.google.com/books?id=I2MEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ "Cop union and cop image." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. May 13, 2005
- ^ "Changes Ahead for the MPA". Milwaukee Police Association. http://www.milwaukeepoliceassoc.com/newsstory2.php.
[edit] External links
- "Officers Tell Jury of Letting Dahmer Keep Boy - New York Times". The New York Times (New York: NYTC). February 12, 1992. ISSN 0362-4331. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/13/us/officers-tell-jury-of-letting-dahmer-keep-boy.html. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
- "No. 98-1602. - BALCERZAK v. CITY OF MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN - US 7th Circuit". caselaw.findlaw.com. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1179503.html. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
