Milwaukee Police Department responds to allegations made against assistant chief

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Police Department is responding to a story about one of its highest ranking officers. 

An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports a complaint from a female police officer who claims Assistant Chief Raymond Banks harassed her, made sexual comments, called her at home to proposition her, and barged into her office uninvited. 

The story cites a letter from an attorney for the officer. It also says Banks was promoted to assistant chief after the allegations were made. Banks himself did not comment on the allegations in the story. 

CBS 58 talked to Mayor Tom Barrett Friday morning about the allegations. He says he just found out about the allegations Thursday. 

"I take these allegations very, very seriously. I think that you have to have workplace safety, particularly that people are not harassed on their job. I don't know if the extent of the allegations were known at the time of the promotion. I simply don't know that, but that's obviously something I'd be interested in finding out,' said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. 

The Milwaukee Police Department sent a long response to the story, saying that the officer who allegedly made the complaints was interviewed twice last January. Both times, she said that Banks did not make sexual comments to her, never touched her inappropriately and never made sexual advances. She did say she was uncomfortable with Banks' visits to her office. 

After Raymond Banks was named assistant chief, the statement says he was advised not to have any further contact with the officer and to review department policy on sexual harassment. See the department's complete response below: