State Rep. Bob Donovan
Press Release

Alderman Donovan calls for DOJ audit of Milwaukee Police Department IT

Alderman says video data snafu part of a “pattern” of issues

By - May 13th, 2015 10:32 am

Alderman Bob Donovan wants the state Department of Justice to conduct an audit of the Milwaukee Police Department’s information technology and data operations.

Alderman Donovan, a member of the Common Council’s Public Safety Committee, said the MediaSolv video evidence “catastrophe” is part of “a disturbing pattern” of MPD IT difficulties that affect public safety and warrant a deeper review. “I am sending a letter today to the DOJ asking that an intensive audit be conducted, looking at the police department’s IT and data practices,” he said.

“There have been a variety of problems with the department’s systems, and we have an obligation to our citizens to find out the truth to ensure that these problems do not continue or happen again,” Alderman Donovan said.

In January, a hardware malfunction caused data stored on the Milwaukee Police Department’s MediaSolv system to become inaccessible, including the video recordings of suspect interviews in high-profile criminal cases. The hardware was sent to a vendor, who is working to recover the lost data.

Alderman Donovan said sources have indicated that in December 2014, someone hacked into the MPD web site – a disturbing development that he believes is not connected to the video evidence crisis. “But the bottom line is that these problems seem to keep happening, and we need independent eyes on the MPD’s systems to tell us how the issues can be avoided in the future,” he said.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

3 thoughts on “Alderman Donovan calls for DOJ audit of Milwaukee Police Department IT”

  1. TF says:

    Golly gee, didn’t we just hear this yesterday…oh, wait, that was from Alderman Davis. Joining forces, are we?

  2. Dave says:

    So it looks like the end result is this that it effected a handful of cases and the issue is almost resolved. Can we shelve the phony outrage now and save it for the next MD Kittle hack job?

  3. Just Saying says:

    Political posturing.

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