When journalist Jessica McBride penned a glowing, 5,400-word profile of MilwaukeePolice Chief Edward Flynn for Milwaukee Magazine this year, many in the Milwaukee Police Department jokingly dismissed it as a love letter to the chief. Little did they know, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Flynn and McBride struck up a romantic relationship. Asked about the affair, Flynn, 61, issued a statement acknowledging his indiscretion without mentioning McBride, 39, by name. “I have done my wife and family a great wrong, and I profoundly regret the hurt I have inflicted on them and others affected by my conduct,” Flynn wrote. “I accept the personal and public consequences of my private behavior. I have damaged my public reputation and violated the trust and love of my family.”
McBride – a journalism lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a former Journal Sentinel reporter – has refused to respond to numerous messages about the liaison. She has been a prominent figure in the community, serving as a talk-show host and political blogger. Asked if he planned to inform his readers about the affair, magazine editor Bruce Murphy said, “I don’t think it has any bearing on the story. It was a great story.” The story, entitled “The Cop Who Can’t Stop,” referred to Flynn as a “bold choice.” McBride talked up his strong résumé, energy and fitness, edgy sense of humor and success at the police department’s helm. He is referred to in the story as “blunt yet charming.”