A police chief in Milwaukee County has been charged with felony misconduct after he allegedly used his department’s surveillance camera to watch his own home during his divorce.
Greenfield Police Chief Jay Johnson has been on paid administrate leave since April. Last week, he was charged with misconduct in public office in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
A criminal complaint said Johnson allegedly directed a captain in his police department to put a department-owned surveillance camera outside of his home in Wind Lake despite being told by city officials that he should not. The complaint alleges he did so because he was “in fear for his safety” during a divorce and was looking to get a restraining order against his wife.
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In a statement, Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke said the city is also looking into violations of city “policy, rules, procedures, and expectations of conduct” through an internal investigation against Johnson.
“Although Johnson is presumed innocent until proven guilty of these criminal charges, they appear to be serious charges, and we do not take them lightly,” Neitzke wrote in the statement.
Johnson, 58, has been with the department since 1992, serving as an officer, lieutenant and captain. He was appointed police chief by the Greenfield Police and Fire Commission in 2019.
He was in court Monday for his initial appearance. He is out of custody on a $5,000 signature bond. He will be back in court on Nov. 24 for his preliminary hearing.
Johnson faces up to three and a half years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 for the felony misconduct charge.
What the complaint says
The criminal complaint says Johnson told Neitzke in December of 2024 that he wanted to put a police department-owned camera outside of his Racine County home.
“Chief Johnson stated he was trying to get a restraining order against his wife, in part because she was dating a felon,” the complaint said.
The surveillance cameras, referred to as a “pole camera” in the complaint, are installed on electrical poles and wired into the electrical line by technicians with We Energies.
Neitzke said he originally told Johnson that “if he thought he could do it, to go ahead,” the complaint says. But after that phone call, Neitzke quickly contacted the city attorney, who cited legal concerns about Johnson using the camera for personal reasons. The city attorney said he then called Johnson to advise him against using the camera.
However, shortly after that conversation, the complaint says Johnson asked Greenfield Police Captain Chuck Fletcher to install the camera at his house.
“At no time did Captain Fletcher indicate that he was told by Chief Johnson of the City Attorney advising him not to install the camera,” the complaint added.
Prosecutors say the camera was taken from a “closed drug investigation” and placed across the street from Johnson’s driveway on Dec. 26, 2024.
Two detectives with the department told the city’s human resources director about the cameras in April. Later that month, Neitzke and others held a meeting with Johnson to “discuss a possible resolution,” the complaint says.
During the meeting, Johnson “became very irate, denied the charges, and refused to listen to the offer presented to him,” according to the complaint. He was placed on paid administrative leave after that meeting.
The complaint says Johnson violated the department’s standards of conduct by using the camera for his personal gain to “advance his divorce.”
During Monday’s hearing, Johnson’s attorney Jacob Manian said Johnson had the camera placed outside of his home because the mayor said he could do so during their conversation in December 2024.
“At no point was that authorization to use the camera rescinded or revoked,” Manian said. “The city attorney may have offered his opinion that it was a bad idea — every day, people don’t listen to their lawyers, believe me.”
But Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Nicolas Heitman pushed back against that claim.
“The mayor specifically tells the city attorney to tell the defendant (Johnson) not to do this, and he does it anyway,” Heitman said.
Johnson and Manian declined to speak to reporters after Monday’s hearing.
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