Mensah To Remain Working In Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WI—Joseph Mensah will stay employed within the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, despite Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro's ruling on Wednesday.

The judge found there was probable cause to charge Mensah with homicide with a dangerous weapon in the fatal 2016 shooting of Jay Anderson Jr.

Anderson was fatally shot in Madison Park in June 2016 after Mensah responded to a report of a suspicious car. Mensah encountered Anderson and found him in possession of a handgun, police said. The interaction led to him shooting and killing Anderson while he was sitting in his car, police added.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm cleared the officer of wrongdoing in December 2016.

The sheriff's department released a statement Thursday saying Sheriff Eric Severson supports the judicial process and his intent to let the process play out.

"As that process proceeds and develops, the sheriff will continue to assess and review the need for possible action. At this time, after careful review and deliberation, based on all of the facts available to us, Detective Mensah will continue his current assignment within the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department," the sheriff's department said.

Mensah left the Wauwatosa Police Department in November 2020. He was later sworn in as a deputy for the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office in January 2021.

Mensah has been cleared by the Milwaukee County District Attorney in three separate fatal shootings, with the most recent one being in 2020.