John Balcerzak

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John Balcerzak is a police officer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1991, he was fired for having returned an injured victim back to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Balcersak and his partner Joseph Gabrish discovered the victim, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, after he had managed to escape from Dahmer's apartment. Konerak, a Laotian who did not speak English. Dahmer found the boy with the police and convinced them that the boy was his 19-year-old gay partner. Balcerzak and his partner believed Dahmer and left. Dahmer later killed and dismembered the boy.

Balcerzak and Gabrish were terminated from the Milwaukee Police Department after their actions were widely publicized. The officers had never checked the boy's ID because he appeared to be 19 years old. Had he ran Dahmer's identification, he would have found that Dahmer was a repeat sex offender on parole.

Both officers later appealed their termination, won, and were reinstated with back pay. Balcerzak and Gabrish were named "officers of the year" by their local union, the Milwaukee Police Association, for fighting a "righteous" battle to regain their jobs. Some years later (May 2005), Balcerzak was elected president of the union.