Bree Spencer Named To Fire & Police Commission

Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson is nominating Bree Spencer to serve on the city’s powerful Fire & Police Commission (FPC).

The commission is responsible for hiring, firing, discipline and policy setting for the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and Milwaukee Fire Department. All of the appointments are made by the mayor and confirmed by the council. Spencer would be the seventh member of the commission, filling the seat vacated by retired firefighter Everett Cocroft. He relocated to Las Vegas in late 2021.

Depending on if the council confirms her, and how quickly it acts, Spencer could serve as a tie-breaking vote on whether the MPD could begin towing unregistered vehicles that are stopped for reckless driving. An FPC committee deadlocked on the proposal in January, pushing the next vote off until late March at the earliest.

Spencer is currently the policing program manager at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a national coalition focused on civil and human rights. She previously spent nearly a decade at Milwaukee-based public safety nonprofit Safe & Sound in various leadership positions.

“I am very pleased that Bree has accepted my invitation to be nominated as a Fire and Police Commissioner,” said Johnson in a statement. “Her knowledge and her experience are a great complement to the commission membership. She will bring both practical and objective perspectives to the group’s business.”

Spencer holds a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University.

Her appointment would leave only a single member, Fred Crouther, who was on the board during the botched demotion of police chief Alfonso Morales. Crouther’s term expires in 2024.

Spencer would join a slate of 2021 appointees: Amanda Avalos, LaNelle Ramey, Joan Kessler, Edward Fallone and Dana World-Patterson. A full-time staff led by executive director Leon W. Todd, III works with the commission.

Commissioners serve in a part-time capacity, earning $6,600 per year for participating in regularly-scheduled, evening meetings. They are appointed for a five-year term.