Former UW-Madison Police Chief Kristen Roman has resigned from her position on February 11, following an internal investigation prompted by parking violations. The investigation revealed an alleged romantic relationship between Roman and a subordinate, according to documents obtained through an open records request to the University of Wisconsin.

The investigation originally began after an employee raised concerns about Roman's tracking of mileage and failure to pay parking fees. However, during interviews with police personnel regarding these violations, it was discovered that many believed Roman and the employee were involved in a romantic relationship. The records do not disclose the name of the subordinate involved.

According to the documents, several indicators of an intimate relationship were found. Witnesses reported that Roman and the employee frequently spent time together in each other's office with the door closed. Additionally, the employee was included in meetings that typically only involved sworn officers, and Roman advocated for a pay raise for the employee.

Further evidence of a romantic connection was discovered when a greeting card from the employee was found in Roman's office. Inside the card, a note expressed deep admiration and gratitude for their relationship, stating, "Over the past several months, I have come to realize just how special you are to me..."

Although Roman allegedly performed a factory reset on her cell phone, UWPD Information Technology managed to recover text messages and Microsoft Teams communications between Roman and the employee. These messages reportedly contained affectionate content.

During the investigation, the employee resigned and chose not to participate in an interview. However, they did answer written questions. According to their responses, Roman informed them of her pending divorce in December 2023, and they discussed the possibility of entering a romantic relationship in January 2024. However, the recovered text messages revealed that their communication had been ongoing for more than four months prior to these dates.

Roman claimed to investigators that she believed the employee had a "work crush" and had made it clear that she was married and held a superior position. She stated that the romantic relationship between them started at the end of December 2023 or the beginning of January 2024. Roman eventually reported the relationship to a Vice Chancellor on January 24, 2024.

It remains unclear whether there were any specific policies within UWPD that required reporting such relationships. The employee indicated that they did not see a reason to report it as there was no explicit policy in place.

With Roman's resignation, UW-Madison will be tasked with appointing a new police chief to oversee the department and address any potential changes needed to prevent similar incidents in the future.