Ald. Milele Coggs
Press Release

Citizens still waiting for answers about illegal strip searches

Other Council members and I have recently been directing our efforts toward learning more about the tragic death in police custody of Derek Williams, and seeking justice for him.

By - Oct 1st, 2012 10:15 pm

Milwaukee Common Council passed, a resolution that calls for the Milwaukee Police Department and the Fire and Police Commission to maintain transparency while investigating alleged illegal strip searches and body cavity searches performed by MPD personnel, and to report their findings within 30 days of concluding said investigations. The measure was co-sponsored by Aldermen Willie L. Hines, Jr., Ashanti Hamilton, Willie C. Wade and Nik Kovac.

Other Council members and I have recently been directing our efforts toward learning more about the tragic death in police custody of Derek Williams, and seeking justice for him. But that does not mean we have forgotten about the alarming allegations that citizens of this city brought against a handful of our police officers, nor that we no longer expect prompt answers about what those citizens may have been subjected to.

This past week, newspaper reports revealed that some officers involved in the cavity search case are also connected to the Derek Williams case. Amid these revelations, the sooner all the information about the cavity search case is revealed, the better.

I hope that District Attorney John Chisholm, Police Chief Edward Flynn and Fire and Police Commission Executive Director Mike Tobin realize that the public still demands results from the investigations with which these men were tasked. It is also my request that these answers be shared in a timely fashion, so as not to undermine public faith in the integrity of police investigations.

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.

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