“She is misusing her police authority”
By Shannon Alanna McKenna
(See documents in the case here)
In January, Milwaukee police officer Tamara R. Crouther made the news, albeit regional news and briefs. She was suspended from the force after being arrested for insurance fraud.
The question is why she was still a police officer. During her 13-year career as an officer of the law, Crouther racked up two criminal convictions and at least one municipal violation, and people sought harassment restraining orders against her four times, a Frontpage Milwaukee investigation has found.
Yet, she remained a Milwaukee police officer. She is now facing a felony charge.
Crouther was accused of abusing her police authority and harassing people while on duty in a growing pattern of problems over the years. Crouther has been on the force since 1993. That was also the year of her first harassment restraining order.
Derek H. Clayton filed for a harassment restraining order against Crouther because, according to his written statement in the case file, Crouther was calling his voice mail at work and threatening to find him wherever he went.
“She is misusing her police authority to find me for no reason and she has called me at work which is causing me to feel physically threatened,” Clayton said in the statement.
Clayton said that he was unaware of whether or not Crouther was reprimanded by the Police Department.
“I don’t know much about the outcome of the case from that perspective, but I know no injunction was issued,” he said in an interview with a student journalist.
Clayton had no opinion regarding whether or not Crouther or other officers with criminal records should be allowed to remain on the force.
A woman sought a harassment restraining order against Crouther in 1995.
Yolanda Y. Bender, who was then married to Terrence Bender, also a Milwaukee police officer at the time, said in her written statement that Crouther was constantly calling her on the phone and verbally abusing her. Bender also stated that Crouther drew her police gun on her.
“Because she is a police officer she has used her job to get to me by any means necessary,” Bender said in the statement.
Crouther received an official reprimand from the Police Department.
Bender could not be reached for comment.
First criminal conviction
Crouther was convicted of unlawful phone use harassment, a criminal misdemeanor, in 1996. Bender was also the victim in this case.
Between Jan. 16 and March 23, 1996, hang-up phone calls were made to Bender from the district three area, where Crouther was working at the time, while Crouther was on duty.
Crouther was fined $702.50 by the court and received a two-day suspension without pay from the Police Department.
Crouther’s third harassment restraining order was issued in 1996. This was filed by Yolanda Bender’s ex-husband, Terrence Bender.
He said in his written statement that Crouther had been calling his house throughout the day and night and that she had scratched both of his cars with keys.
The motion for injunction was dismissed, but the pattern was building.
Second criminal conviction
In 2002, Crouther was convicted of issuing worthless checks, another criminal misdemeanor.
At Potawatomi Bingo Casino, which contains a branch of the check cashing company Fast Funds, Crouther issued five worthless checks between Jan. 22 and Jan. 29, 2002, that totaled $1,864.
Crouther pled guilty to one count of issuing worthless checks in exchange for the other four counts being dismissed.
Crouther was ordered to pay the $1,864 plus a $500 fine. She was also suspended without pay for 25 consecutive working days by the Police Department.
In 2005, a man named Louis Smith sought a restraining order against Crouther, but the injunction was denied.
The following year, in 2006, Crouther received a municipal violation, for unlawful phone use - repeated harassment. The court website also lists a second identical case with a slightly different case number.
According to the case file, when Crouther’s then-boyfriend Louis Smith broke up with her, she made repeated phone calls to him with the sole intent to harass him.
Between Nov. 23 and Nov. 29, 2005, Crouther’s home and cell phones were used to make a total of 209 phone calls to Smith’s cell phone. Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 24, 2005, Crouther’s phones were used to call Lowe’s, where Smith worked at the time, 95 times.
During that time period, Crouther’s phones were also used to call Milwaukee Water Works and the Department of Public Works in an attempt to have Smith’s water and utilities shut off.
At the time, Crouther denied making most of the phone calls but said that it was possible she had made some phone calls out of anger.
Crouther received a $250 fine in this case.
But even all of that was not enough for Crouther to lose her job. She remained a police officer.
Smith could not be reached for comment.
In addition to her suspensions from the force for her criminal convictions, Crouther received a two-day suspension in 1996 for interfering officiously in the private business of other persons and submitting a false official report. Also in 1996, she was suspended for three working days without pay for failing to promptly obey a lawful order emanating from her superior officer. In 2003, she received a two-day suspension without pay for failing to be responsible for monies which were entrusted to her by virtue of her official position.
Crouther has received three official reprimands, one of which was due to her 1995 harassment restraining order. In 2001, she was reprimanded for failing to complete a Wisconsin motor vehicle accident report, and in 2003, she was reprimanded for failing to appear in court after duly being subpoenaed to do so.
Crouther’s criminal record presented another problem before she was suspended for the felony last month.
Criminal defense lawyer John S. Schiro, who represented Crouther in her worthless checks case (and then sued her in 2005 for not paying her attorney fees), while not commenting on Crouther’s specific situation, did say that police officers with criminal records can create a dilemma in the courtroom.
“These officers can be impeached in prosecutions where they were involved in a case and their testimony leans toward one side or the other,” Schiro said.
Deputy District Attorney Jon N. Reddin agreed.
“It creates a big problem because, under the rules of evidence, any witness who’s been convicted of a crime can be asked about that, and law presumes that those people are less credible than people without criminal records,” Reddin said.
He said that this is a particularly important problem for police officers because they are called as witnesses quite often.
“Normally we don’t call officers who are convicted of crimes, which really limits their ability,” he said.
When contacted before her latest arrest, Crouther, who was assigned to the city jail, said that a police department representative had advised her not to comment on anything.