Police union drops lawsuit against body camera video release policy, union head says it was before out-of-state OIS

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On Tuesday, July 16, the Milwaukee Police Association dropped its legal challenge against a body camera video release policy that community groups pushed for over the last several years. A judge signed off on the end of the lawsuit Wednesday.

Body camera video is top of mind after five Columbus, Ohio police officers shot and killed a Milwaukee man Tuesday.

In Milwaukee, it typically takes months before video is released. The Columbus chief sent out their video within hours.

Demonstrators demanded transparency and accountability after the shooting, and soon they may get it.

The body camera video surprised a lot of people. So did the speed with which it was released.

Just hours after five Columbus, Ohio police officers shot and killed a knife-wielding Milwaukee man, the video showed what officers saw.

We asked Andrew Wagner, the president of the Milwaukee Police Association, about the video.

He said, "Substantially helpful. I think the body camera showed what the officers had done, and that they had saved this other individual's life."

The union sued in April 2023 to prevent showing families video within 48 hours of a critical incident and the public within 15 days.

But the union dropped that suit Tuesday.

Wagner said, "We actually dropped it two hours, a couple hours before this incident occurred."

Milwaukee alderman Bob Bauman said city leaders were worried at first about potential protests immediately after the shooting, until the video was released. "I think it tamped down a lot of the concern, a lot of the tension."

He wants Milwaukee to take a lesson from Columbus and release video of critical incidents sooner.

Bauman said, "It creates some facts when up to that point you have a lot of rumor."

On Tuesday afternoon, community activists were furious in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

But a few hours later, the video was released, apparently backing up law enforcement's assessment of the situation.

It's a much different story when there's a critical incident in Milwaukee.

MPD typically sends out what the department calls community briefings, well after critical incidents.

They're pre-produced, edited videos that include the police narrative of events that cannot be questioned.

On average, the videos are sent out 46 days after an incident. In the past few years, the shortest time was 41 days, the longest was 59 days.

On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Alliance called the dropped lawsuit a "huge victory for the people of Milwaukee and the first step towards true transparency and accountability."

But there is still some uncertainty.

Act 12, passed and signed last year, stripped the independent Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission of the ability to create policy. That power is now left solely to department chiefs.

We asked MPD what policy is now in place. They said, "We are working with the City Attorney's Office to understand how this affects the policy and the case."

We also reached out to City Attorney Evan Goyke's office.

In the meantime, Bauman is among those hoping MPD adopts a new strategy. "I hope our police department takes a lesson from the excellent judgment of the Columbus Police Department."