Supervisors Push For Expedited Video Release By Sheriff’s Office

Police body camera. Photo by Ryan Johnson, (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors want the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) to adopt the same video release policy used by the City of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department.

The city policy, known as Standard Operating Procedure 575 (SOP), concerns incidents when an officer injures, shoots or kills someone. It requires MPD to make any video footage of the incident available to the next of kin within 48 hours and to release the footage publicly within 15 days. The policy includes some exceptions, including provisions for protecting the identities of crime victims and witnesses.

The policy was adopted by the city’s Fire and Police Commission in 2023, but was tied up in litigation brought by the Milwaukee Police Association. It was finally implemented this past summer after the association withdrew its lawsuit.

Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez has sponsored legislation requesting the MCSO develop a similar policy for the release of footage after any use-of-force event involving a sheriff’s deputy or member of the agency. Now that the city has begun operating under SOP 575 he sees no reason why the county shouldn’t adopt a similar policy in the name of transparency and closure for families, he told Urban Milwaukee.

“This is for the people that have been through tragedies,” Martinez said.

The board cannot require the sheriff’s office to change its policy the way the city’s Fire and Police Commission can. As an independently elected, constitutional officer, the sheriff in Milwaukee County maintains the sole legal authority to set department policy.

In 2023, after the city FPC adopted the new video release policy, the county board considered a resolution urging the sheriff to adopt a similar policy. Supervisors discussed the policy over several meetings, but the board ultimately voted to hold off on advancing the resolution until after the lawsuit against the city policy was settled.

During that first go-around, the MCSO came out against the policy. MCSO leadership told the board early release of video footage could negatively impact the investigative process, making key evidence public before all witnesses are interviewed, allowing them to tailor their statements to the footage.

If the same arguments are brought out again, Martinez is prepared with his response.

“If this is not something that you will support, I would like to know what it is that you will support,” he said. “Because as elected officials — and the sheriff’s department is an elected department — we have a societal contract with people to be transparent with them and to be honest and to be forthwith.”

Martinez already has co-sponsorship from five other supervisors, and will only need to pick up four more votes to pass the resolution. However, any policy will require cooperation from the sheriff, who will ultimately set the policy.

The MCSO is currently cooperating with a third-party audit of the Milwaukee County Jail paid for by the Milwaukee County Board, letting auditors in during the past year to observe and review the facility. The audit found a number of issues with the suicide prevention and mental health policies in place.

The board will first take up Martinez’ resolution at the end of January during a meeting of the Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services.

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