“The good thing is that the criminals we investigate face lengthy sentences and deservingly.”
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Image courtesy of Milwaukee Police Department
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Sex and sensitive crimes slice into the heart of human suffering and exploitation. Milwaukee has seen more than its share. Behind the police reports and statistics are victims whose lives have been torn apart by assault, abuse and deception. Nationally, one in six women and one in 33 men have endured an attempted or completed rape, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Every 74 seconds, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. Every nine minutes, that someone is a child.
But the real numbers are likely higher because many victims stay silent, afraid, or ashamed to come forward.
In Milwaukee, detectives in the Sensitive Crimes Division face grave realities every day. Children harmed by those they trusted. Women assaulted by partners or strangers. And young people drawn into prostitution or human trafficking by manipulation or desperation. With its busy freeways and struggling neighborhoods, the city has become a crossroads for traffickers trading in human lives.
Over the last generation, America has learned to talk more openly about sensitive crimes. Laws have changed, services have expanded, and police are more involved. Yet for every survivor, recovery is personal, and the path toward justice and healing remains long and uneven. The story of sex and sensitive crimes is a drama about people and the fight to reclaim their dignity.
To find out more, I met with Milwaukee Police Department Sgt. Fawn Schwandt, who is a supervisor at the Sensitive Crimes Division. We settled into a conference room at the Sojourner Family Peace Center, the nonprofit that annually aids hundreds of domestic violence victims.
You are a supervisor at the MPD Sensitive Crimes Division. Tell me about your background, where you grew up, and eventually how you got into law enforcement.
I grew up in the Milwaukee area suburbs and went to college at UW-Eau Claire. I wanted to be a cop my whole life. For a short time, I worked as a detention deputy in law enforcement in Hennepin County, the Minneapolis/ St Paul metro area. In 2003, I moved back to Milwaukee as an MPD police officer. I started out in District 2 on the south side. From there, I worked in the vice squad in the anti-prostitution unit.
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What were your duties in the vice squad?
I did undercover work as a prostitute for about four years. I walked the tracks on the South Side and pretended to be a prostitute. If someone solicited me, fellow officers would make an arrest. We worked as a team.
What was that like, pretending to be a prostitute?
We did both street prostitution and call girl prostitution at hotels. We also did undercover drug buys. That experience taught me to think on my feet. It is a dangerous thing to do but a great learning experience when you are a new cop. I loved that experience.
Did you get promoted after that assignment?
No, the vice squad was shut down in 2008, so I went back in uniform to the Neighborhood Task Force on 47th and Vliet. I worked the street crimes unit, and we covered the most dangerous areas. Then, I worked the Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the warrant squad. We apprehended fugitives wanted by the law.
How do you apprehend a fugitive?
We work with the detective bureau, who put out warrants for fugitives wanted for homicide or a shooting, armed robbery, sexual assault. We would look for them and arrest them on the warrants.
What was that like, arresting bad guys?
Kind of like adult hide and go seek. It is dangerous because many fugitives are not cooperative, but you become close with your fellow team members, kind of like family.
What was next for you after that assignment?
The Intelligence Fusion Center. I investigated internet crimes against children. I got promoted to Detective in 2020 and then promoted to Sergeant in 2022 and put in charge. We try to find someone who uploads child sexual abuse material on any internet search site. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will send us those uploads if they are found to originate in the Milwaukee area. Then, we track down the perpetrators and arrest them. After that, I worked in Code Red, the Downtown weekend deployment team that patrols that area where social activity is getting out of hand. Two years ago, I was transferred to the Sensitive Crimes Unit where I am now.
Let’s go through various sensitive crimes. First, Crimes against children, which includes child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation.
Yes, these type of crimes are different than internet crimes against children. These are physical abuses, sexual and violent. We hear about these crimes from social workers, teachers, schools, or from police calls. Our investigators investigate the scene. To gather evidence, we interview victims including forensic interviews at the CAC, Child Advocacy Center and then we arrest the criminal.
Another sensitive crime is domestic violence. This involves violence occurring between people in an intimate relationship.
Our definition of domestic violence is that the people live together, have lived together, are married, have children in common, or are former spouses. That is the state law. Generally, the victim will call the police, or the call comes from a neighbor who hears commotion. Police might make an arrest, and then we bring in advocates who counsel the victim and provide help with housing or their kids and get them safe.
In my experience of doing domestic violence stories, I find that sometimes a victim will change her mind and not press charges after the abuse.
Unfortunately, many of these victims are in a cycle where they don’t know how to get out of an abusive relationship. We try to provide them with the means to keep them and their kids safe.
The sensitive crime of sexual assault. I believe this includes any non-consensual sexual contact.
There are different kinds of sexual assault, for example, adult, child, family or stranger
Missing persons is another sensitive crime. This often involves a sensitive and time-critical investigation.
District police officers will respond to a missing person complaint and take the report. If it is a “critical missing,” then Sensitive Crimes gets involved. If it is an Amber, Green or Silver Alert, or Endangered Person alert, then we see that the alerts are issued to the public. Our policy reads that no matter how long a person is missing, two hours to two days, we have to file a missing persons report. We have an hour to get a missing person into the system.
And finally, there is human trafficking: This involves using force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or commercial sex acts.
As defined, human trafficking is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons to force, fraud, deception or coercion.” In other words, human trafficking suspects will find vulnerable victims and kind of take control of their lives. They use force and fraud, but also psychological means.
I am assuming that young women coming across the border are vulnerable.
We have a lot of problems with our girls staying in group homes. Some girls don’t want to be there, and they leave the homes, and the suspects are just waiting for them.
Where do the perpetrators house and control the girls?
They kind of use mind control. The girls are living in a house, but they have no money. The suspects will keep their identifications and their wallets and cell phones if they have any. The girls have nowhere to go, no one to call. They don’t even get to keep any proceeds of their prostitution money.
What about girls being transported from other areas through Milwaukee to other cities? Interstate transport.
My team and I are part of the National Human Trafficking Task Force that includes different outside agencies and the FBI. We investigate interstate transport of human beings.
How do you go about identifying the human trafficking criminals?
Generally, these suspects are known by their street names. If we get enough girls to identify the bad guy, we can find digital evidence, do surveillance, or arrest him. Evidence includes phones, electronic service providers, cars and license plates. We are good at what we do.
Regarding domestic violence, can a police officer legally intervene in an accusation of violence between people in an intimate relationship?
Our job is to determine the predominant aggressor, and that person is arrested. We then get resources to help the victim get safe.
I assume the victim will have to testify in court eventually.
Yes, but we have advocates who can help her through that process, make sure the victim is safe, escort her into the courtroom.
Does this advocacy system work?
Generally, it does. For example, the Sojourner Family Peace Center has a team to help victims.
What is an advocate?
Our advocate for victims is Maria Rozek. She has been an advocate for over 20 years, and she is invaluable. Maria specializes in the human trafficking crimes. She helps get victims into treatment and a place of safety and if they need counseling. She helps them through the trial process and anything legal. Keep in mind that many human trafficking cases can take years before they are brought to trial, partly because the victims might not be ready to disclose. But Maria will keep the connection to the victims through the years.
If a woman calls in a rape or sexual assault against a man, what is the police procedure?
If a woman calls in a rape, she would go to the hospital and get a sexual assault kit. We would take her full statement. We would try to find video or cell phone evidence. If there is probably cause, we would track down the suspect and take a DNA sample, which goes to the crime lab, and then he would be arrested and charged, then finally referred to the District Attorney.
What are the laws against prostitution? What can police do?
Basically, providing a sex act for anything of value.
Are there other kinds of sensitive crimes you get involved in?
Child deaths through neglect. Those kinds of deaths are hard on cops psychologically. The good thing is that the criminals we investigate face lengthy sentences and deservingly. Every ounce of blood, sweat and tears we put into our investigations is worth it.
