Recommendations

Recommendation 31

MPD should require that non-fatal officer-involved shooting incidents are also investigated by an external agency.

Current:

The implementation of this recommendation would require Criminal Justice System participation and an intergovernmental agreement with surrounding agencies. MPD is part of the Milwaukee County Law Enforcement Executives Association Memorandum of Understanding (including Wisconsin DOJ) which dictates Investigation of Law Enforcement Involved Fatalities/Great Bodily Harm. However, suburban jurisdictions do not have the capacity to investigation all MPD officer involved non-fatal shooting incidents. MPD cannot require that outside agencies comply with this proposed recommendation. This MOU with surrounding municipal agencies will alleviate concerns about response times, as historically Wisconsin DOJ has taken hours to respond to critical incidents. This new regional approach will also address the concern and perception of using retired MPD personnel, who are employed by the Wisconsin DOJ to investigate fatal officer-involved shooting incidents.

Wisconsin state law only mandates this type of procedure when the officer involved shooting results in a fatality. 2013 Wisconsin Act 348, Wis. Stat. § 175.47 – investigation of a death involving a law enforcement officer specifically states: “(2) Each law enforcement agency shall have a written policy regarding the investigation of officer-involved deaths that involve a law enforcement officer employed by the law enforcement agency. (3) (a) Each policy under sub. (2) must require an investigation conducted by at least two investigators, one of whom is the lead investigator and neither of whom is employed by a law enforcement agency that employs a law enforcement officer involved in the officer-involved death.”