MILWAUKEE — One by one, community members called for more transparency from the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) as members of the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) discussed the potential to adopt an updated standard operating procedure (SOP).
It's a system that would require the department to release video footage of officer-involved deaths and other critical incidents within a certain time frame.
"We the people have a right to know what you are doing," said one community member.
Currently, two draft proposals have been made to create a video release policy for the department. One draft, written by MPD officials, proposes the department keep its 45-day timeline from the incident to release relevant video footage to the community.
The other draft was written by the FPC, which proposed that the police department release its footage within 15 days.
"At this time, we don't feel that there's anything more to add to the conversation," said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
But those who attended Thursday night's meeting don't agree with either time frame. Instead, they're proposing the FPC adopt a 24/48 system. The procedure would require the names of police officers involved in the incidents to be released within 24 hours, while unedited video footage of the incident would be required to be released within 48 hours.
"We've been calling for that for almost two years. We want to see that footage released quickly because too often Milwaukee police hold that footage as long as they want," said Alan Chavoya, the outreach chair for the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression.
"How can the community trust the police when so much is hidden away from us," asked Patricia Fish a member of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Students for a Democratic Society.
Members of the commission say they still have three key areas that they're still working to agree on before drafting a final proposal. That includes if the video release timeline should be more or less than 15 days if the police chief will be allowed to request additional time before the release, and when and how the footage should be viewed by family members of the deceased before it's released to the public.
"None of it is written in stone. None of it is final," said FPC chair Edward Fallone.
FPC officials say they hope to take a final vote on the proposed video release procedure at their next board meeting.
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