Attorney: Morales to return as Milwaukee police chief on July 12

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Former Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales is set to return to work Monday, July 12.

His lawyer told CBS 58 settlement talks have broken down again.

Morales was demoted to captain last year and successfully sued the city to return to his job.

A judge initially set a July 3 return to work, but negotiations extended that to the 12th.

Those negotiations now appear again to have broken down.

"There was a brief window of opportunity," said 4th District Alderman Robert Bauman.

He said negotiations continued on last week after appearing to break down mid-week, resulting in Morales delaying his return to work by nine days.

"There was some give and take and some numbers got tossed around but ultimately I think that's fallen apart," said Bauman.

Now, Morales' attorney, Frank Gimbel, said his client will return to work Monday. That would end a process nearly a year in the making.

"I certainly was not optimistic based on our meeting today that there's going to be a quick resolution to this matter," said Gimbel back in December.

The mayor's office had no comment Wednesday. Neither did the Fire and Police Commission. The city attorney was out of the office and CBS 58 did not hear back from Common Council President Cavalier Johnson. Milwaukee police would not comment on any potential transition, referring us back to the FPC and city attorney's office.

"This is where we are and the courts have spoken, and it's pretty clear that Morales will be back barring some miracle from the parties sort of softening their positions," said Bauman.

He said Acting Chief Jeffrey Norman has been praised for implementing reforms. He worries that progress will stall under a return to Chief Morales.

"I think the pace of reform will be in jeopardy," said Bauman.