After three years, a case that has further strained relations between police and Milwaukee’s black community has come to an end. Three police officers have been found guilty in the brutal beating of Frank Jude Jr. and Lovell Harris at a party at one of the officers’ house.

After deliberating about 30 hours, the federal jury of eight women and four men found Jon Bartlett, 35, Andrew Spengler, 28, and Daniel Masarik, 27, guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Jude and his friend Lovell Harris and of assaulting Jude while acting as officers. The assaults happened outside an off-duty officers’ party at Spengler’s house in October 2004.

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On Oct. 24, 2004, Jude, Harris and two women had gone to the party in Bay View, where they were accused of stealing Spengler’s badge. No badge was ever found, and no one was charged with theft.

Harris was cut in the face before he escaped. Jude was punched and kicked repeatedly in the head and body, threatened with a knife and gun, injured by objects jammed in his ears and by his fingers being yanked back, witnesses said.

Jude, who is biracial, and Harris, who is black, both said their white attackers used racial slurs

Perhaps cases like this will put officers on notice that this will not be tolerated. Doing your job and brutalizing people are not the same thing.

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