Supervisors Back Expedited Video Release Policy for Sheriff

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

Milwaukee County supervisors have advanced a resolution calling on the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) to adopt a policy expediting the public release of video evidence following a critical incident, like an in-custody death at the Milwaukee County Jail.

The resolution, sponsored by Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez, requests that the MCSO develop a policy similar to one the City of Milwaukee has in place. The policy, called Standard Operating Procedure 575, makes video footage available to next of kin within 48 hours, and to the public within 15 days, whenever an officer injures or kills someone. The policy includes exceptions, as well as provisions for protecting the identities of crime victims and witnesses.

“This is for the families to be able to see what is happening and to really garner a sense of accountability and transparency from our own Sheriff’s Department,” Martinez said.

Despite some pushback from the MCSO, the board’s Committee on Judiciary and Law Enforcement adopted the resolution on a four to one vote Tuesday. Supervisors Sky Capriolo, Willie Johnson, Jr., Martinez and Justin Bielinski voted in favor; Sup. Patti Logsdon voted against.

The city’s policy was initially adopted in 2023. A lawsuit brought by the Milwaukee Police Association prevented implementation until summer 2024, when the association withdrew its lawsuit.

The county board, however, does not have the authority to implement the resolution even if passed by the full board. State statute gives the sheriff the sole authority to set departmental policy.

The sheriff’s office does not support the resolution, Chief Deputy Brian Barkow told supervisors Tuesday. The proposed video release policy could jeapordize legal agreements between the department and other law enforcement agencies that investigate critical incidents involving the MCSO.

“We will, however, review the proposed resolution for possible alternatives after we’re able to conduct further research and analysis of the overall process,” Barkow said.

The MCSO has memorandums of understanding with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office and the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), which is a consortium of nearly two dozen law enforcement agencies from Milwaukee and Waukesha that combine resources to conduct independent investigate shootings or deaths involving law enforcement. Under state statute, law enforcement agencies can’t investigate critical incidents involving their own personnel. The City of Milwaukee Police Department is also a member of MAIT.

The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office has communicated its concern with the supervisors’ resolution to the MCSO, Barkow said. The policy could also conflict with existing agency policy governing when an officer can be interviewed following a critical incident, as well as state law, he said.

Sup. Capriolo said she would be interested to hear what the MCSO would edit out of the resolution, and asked how it could violate state law when the board is merely trying to mirror what the city already has in place.

“I do look forward to hearing from the sheriff’s department and finding a collaboration that we can do so that people are getting the answers that they deserve,” Capriolo said.

Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Karen Tidwell told supervisors she was unsure what state law the policy would conflict with, but would work with the MCSO to research the question.

Regardless of the MCSO’s concerns, none of the agency’s MOU’s will be violated if the board approves the resolution, lacking the authority to direct departmental policy, said Bielinski, chair of the committee.

“This resolution sort of prescribes what we would like to see in a bodycam release policy,” he said.

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