For the Milwaukee Police Department and Fire and Police Commission
Chapter 7
Systems for Supervision, Accountability, Organizational Learning, Remediation, and Discipline
Finding 38
MPD's policy regarding complaints from community members allows a supervisor to determine whether a complaint form shall be completed.
MPD should immediately establish a policy that requires supervisors to accept all community member complaints, including anonymous and third-party complaints.
Standard Operating Procedure 450 – Personnel Investigations details proper procedures to follow regarding personnel investigations. SOP 450 defines a Citizen Complaint as, “An allegation of a Code of Conduct violation, standard operating procedure or criminal allegation committed by one or more department members. A citizen complaint can be made either orally or in writing, provided that the complainant is an adult, parent or legal guardian of a juvenile complaint, attorney representing an aggrieved party or a translator representing a non-English speaking complainant.”
SOP 450.05(D) states, “Whenever a citizen communicates dissatisfaction with one or more department members that does not rise to the level of a standard operating procedure or Code of Conduct violation, a PI-31 (Citizen Complaint Report) shall not normally be completed. However, when in doubt as to whether a violation has occurred or whenever a citizen is adamant that a complaint be filed, the supervisor shall document the citizen’s statements on a PI-31.” All formally documented citizen complaints receive a tracking number. MPD would welcome technical assistance to determine a practical opportunity to achieve this recommendation.
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There should be a way for community members to anonymously fill out a form so that the information for the Pl-31 is already input. That way ALL civilian complaints can be documented and accepted.
Someone shouldn't have to be adamant that they be listened to in order to be heard. This is particularly problematic for certain marginalized groups who are already less likely to be listened to when filing a complaint.
Also, all complaints should go to a 3rd party. As any complaints about officers that end up at the police department are more likely to be considered "unimportant". That is very obviously a conflict of interest.
The police Department should not be receiving complaints of their own officers. Due to the sensitive nature of these complaints a community review board should be set up separate from the police department and be running an investigation into officer complaints with the Fire Police Commission. Our community is policed by many officers that don't have the knowledge or the care to police our community with an objective view of the people they are supposed to be protecting and serving. Thus as a community we want our own review board independent of the Fpc.
The public needs to be confident that all complaints will be fully investigated and appropriately be dealt with in a transparent process.