MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Police Department in collaboration with the Community Collaborative Commission hosted its third Public Safety Meeting geared towards building trust between law enforcement and citizens in District 8.
"We are focused on making sure law enforcement has basically the proper setup to protect the city," said Nate Hamilton, Chair of the Community Collaborative Commission.
Nate Hamilton is the brother of Dontre Hamilton who was fatally shot by a Milwaukee Police Officer in 2014. Dontre who was suffering from mental health issues was sleeping in Red Arrow Park when police were called. The encounter ended with Dontre being shot 14 times by officer Christopher Manney.
"I don't want the community to be scared of seeing law enforcement, I want them to be prepared and capable of standing up to how they feel," said Nate.
Citizens took time to raise their concerns with law enforcement and come up with tangible solutions alongside MPD officers.
"Sometimes it's tough to sit through those but we don't grow and we don't get better unless we hear and most importantly engage with the community. There is a lack of trust with the police department and some of it is earned, some of its misperception, and the more often that we can come together and talk the better that trust is," said David Feldmeier with MPD.
MPD plans on hosting 15 meetings in total for each aldermanic district. Their goal is to develop data and solutions from community members to create a procedure for community policing throughout the city.
The upcoming meetings are scheduled for the following dates:
•Oct. 29: Ald. Michael Murphy’s District 10, location to be decided.
•Nov. 19: Ald. Mark Borkowski’s District 11, location TBD.
•Dec. 17: Ald. Jose Perez’s District 12, location TBD.
•Jan. 28, 2023: Ald. Scott Spiker’s District 13, location TBD.
•Feb. 25: Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic’s District 14, location TBD.
•March 25: Ald. Nikiya Dodd’s District 5, location TBD
