Joint Statement from the Mayor, FPC and MPD

On September 22, 2022, the Crime and Justice Institute (“CJI”) released its Fourth Annual Report detailing the City of Milwaukee’s progress in implementing the reforms required by the Collins Settlement Agreement. This report reflects that the City, the Fire and Police Commission (“FPC”) and the Milwaukee Police Department (“MPD”) continue to make progress with reforms.

he Annual Report also reflects that the City, FPC, and MPD still have work to do to reach full compliance with the settlement agreement. The City as a whole continues to work assertively toward achieving full compliance.

In discussing this year’s racial disparity analysis, CJI recommends that a more nuanced assessment of police encounters, accounting for smaller geographic areas and variability in crime participation and victimization, would be more informative for real-time adjustments to operations, personnel, or communication with the community in high-disparity areas. The City agrees that such an analysis will help identify what drives racial disparities in police encounters and advance the urgent work of addressing them.

The City is resolute that constitutional policing occurs in each and every police interaction. Mayor Cavalier Johnson is committed to assisting the FPC and MPD with the appropriate resources to attain the goals of the Settlement Agreement. Both the FPC and MPD are fully committed to this essential work.

The FPC is exercising its critical oversight function to both support MPD and hold it accountable for meeting its settlement obligations and ensuring constitutional and unbiased policing. Notably, the FPC has requested an additional auditor position to expand its capacity to audit MPD’s documentation and transactions. The FPC’s targeted efforts to recruit a diverse corps of officers produced a highly diverse applicant pool that is reflective of the Milwaukee community.

MPD has been working intentionally to implement initiatives beyond the requirements of the Settlement Agreement to ensure that constitutional and unbiased policing is occurring. Notably, MPD is conducting internal reviews that supplement the Agreement’s auditing requirements. MPD is presenting supplemental training on better identifying biases. MPD has also created and filled two key civilian positions dedicated to constitutional policing and community relations. MPD continues to explore additional training and disciplinary measures to hold every officer accountable for constitutional policing. The FPC, MPD and the Community Collaborative Commission have worked cooperatively over the past year to launch an ongoing series of community meetings to develop a city-wide community-oriented policing plan based on the recommendations of the residents of this City who participate in the conversation.

The City, the FPC and MPD acknowledge and recognize the importance of achieving full compliance with the Collins Settlement Agreement, and also that ensuring constitutional and unbiased policing ultimately grows trust with the community that we serve.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.