Brown Deer will hire an independent law enforcement instructor to review the police department’s handling of previous incidents involving Brookfield spa shooter Radcliffe Haughton. Village Manager Russell Van Gompel announced Friday that Robert Willis will review all the contacts that Brown Deer Police had with Haughton and his estranged wife Zina before the October 21st shootings. Haughton killed Zina and two others, and wounded four other women before killing himself.
Since the spa shooting, Brown Deer Police have been under fire for not arresting Haughton during a number of domestic incidents involving the couple over the past 11 years. Those incidents include a stand off with police where Haughton was believed to be armed.
Van Gompel says the village will have Willis conduct an “unbiased evaluation of the facts and law enforcement standards relevant” to the police department’s contacts with the Haughtons.
A dozen state lawmakers this week accused Brown Deer’s police chief of not following the state’s mandatory arrest law for domestic violence cases on at least two occasions. And they demanded a state investigation. The lawmakers who represent Brown Deer called the accusation a “knee jerk reaction,” but they do favor a review.