TODAY'S TMJ4

Milwaukee Firefighter Arrested for 3rd OWI

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee firefighter Scott Kopp was arrested for his third DUI Tuesday for an alleged incident near 13th and Oklahoma.

"If the charges do turn out to be true, certainly we would be very disappointed in that type of conduct," said Mike Tobin, Executive Director of Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission.

Kopp has been suspended with pay, pending an investigation into this latest run in with the law.

Back in 1998, Kopp was picked up for drunk driving in the city of Greendale and was also charged with a hit and run.

Then, just two years later, he was arrested again, this time in the city of Oak Creek, also for driving under the influence.

It's not clear whether this latest arrest could cost Kopp his job: "Once the criminal case is completed, then we'll conduct our own internal investigation and we'll make an independent investigation on what to do about that situation based on that employees previous work record and based on the egregiousness of that particular offense," said Tobin.

Tobin says the commission has tighten up the rules for hiring both firefighters and police officers: "We do a very rigorous background investigation, and we do a psychological assessment."

And he hopes Kopp's arrests won't taint the public's view on firefighters: "The vast majority of our firefighters are great, hardworking employees," said Tobin.