Historical Reference

Here's a link to the Contrarian article from four years ago outlining Paz's accusation against the Department and Barz:

• A lieutenant of the “Community Safety Team” alleges in a recent court filing that he was re-assigned after refusing to participate in a quota system driven by the Superintendent’s policing strategy. The supposed strategy? An expectation that officers pull over at least ten cars per day and complete blue cards. A “blue card” is documentation created when an officer conducts a traffic stop but neither issues a citation nor makes an arrest. Keeping in mind the Community Safety Team is made up of over 700 officers, common sense would suggest this team should have some other mission. If there is an epidemic of dangerously bad drivers, the offenders should be issued tickets. If there is a connection between bad drivers and crime, the focus should be on something other than what amounts to a verbal warning and ten minutes of paperwork for the officers.

  On principle, the lawsuit sounds plausible. The Deputy Chief alleged to have been carrying out the Superintendent’s quota dirty work, Michael Barz, is said to brag about his close relationship to the Superintendent. It is public record that the feeling is mutual. During testimony to the City Council on October 29, 2020, Brown replied to an alderman’s question about the Community Safety Team: “Thank you for the question and giving me the opportunity to brag on Mike Barz and his team.”  

The article also reports Barz's crooked IAD time and some of the investigations he hid from public view to assist in his upwardly mobile career track.