MPD releases 2nd community briefing of officer-involved shooting in less than 24 hours, calls for transparency continue
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) released two "community briefings" showing heavily edited versions of body camera video from recent deadly officer-involved shootings.
Both of the shootings happened back in February. The first involving fallen Officer Peter Jerving and suspect Terrell Thompson and the other involving 31-year-old Milwaukee man Herman Lucas.
The videos come as the community calls for more transparency from police. People who spoke at the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission (FPC) meeting on Thursday night said waiting more than a month to see police video is too long.
"Those tapes do not belong to the police department. They belong to the City of Milwaukee, work with the people," said Brian Verdeen with Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
The FPC has been writing up a new standard of practice for how and when police should release their video to the public. A current draft would require police to show the public the video within 15 days of the incident. Victims, their family or officers involved would get to see it 48 hours before the video is released.
MPD said allowing those involved to see the video before everyone involved is interviewed would be problematic for an investigation.
"If we were allowing the family to view said video, are we now obligated for the involved officers to view the video?" MPD Assistant Chief Paul Formolo said during the FPC meeting Thursday night.
A standard preliminary investigation is expected to take seven to ten days, according to an FPC commissioner, but MPD Chief Jeffrey Norman said that's not always the case.
"Every situation is different," Norman said during the FPC meeting Thursday night.
Gov. Tony Evers weighed in on the issue on Friday.
Evers said he is open to lawmakers creating a statewide standard of practice for these types of situations.
"Whatever we can do to make things more transparent," Evers said.
The FPC has not voted on an updated standard of practice for releasing body camera video yet.