DEFOREST – Personnel records obtained under the open records law by the DeForest Times-Tribune paint a mixed picture of former police chief Daniel Furseth.
Furseth resigned in August after two investigations resulted in the village board lodging a complaint with the police commission, reported Hannah Rajnicek of the Times-Tribune. The investigations stemmed from a YouTube video in which Furseth can be heard using an affected accent while mocking a group of African American men.
Information gleaned from the documents revealed several issues with his job performance, including continuing on a high-speed chase in an area he was unfamiliar with in 1991; violating state law in 1995 after failing to make “a mandatory arrest in a physical domestic abuse situation” while he was acting as a field training officer; leaving work without a supervisor’s approval in 1995; responding to an incident he was told not to in 1996; viewing pornographic material on his computer while on duty in 1997; acting inappropriately and sharing confidential information with another officer in 2005.
The records also include several letters and emails expressing gratitude toward Furseth and details about him being awarded a certificate of valor, the highest award a living officer can be granted, for rescuing a woman from a burning house.
