MILWAUKEE -- As the 40-page Sterling Brown lawsuit continues to be disseminated, local Aldermen are hoping it brings about change within the police department.
The lawsuit names the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Police, Chief Alfonso Morales and several officers involved in the Brown incident. Part of the lawsuit brings into question the actions of one of the officers involved.
Erik Andrade posted on his Facebook hours after the Brown incident, "Nice to meet Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning. LOL"
This is among the handful of questionable social media posts by Andrade.
"Here we go again," Ashanti Hamilton, Common Council President said. "Most people are waiting for the other shoe to drop. The shoes don't stop dropping when it comes to this case."
Hamilton says the actions of the officers involved in this case unfairly paint a bad picture of the entire police department.
"I think the vast majroity of officers on the force are out there working hard everyday, dedicated to making safe, stable communities," Hamilton said. "That's the picture we want to put out there for the Milwaukee Police Department and recognize, when mistakes are made, that we have the courage and will to make the corrections so we don't have the institutional tension that has traditionally existed between members of the community and police across the country."
"To see that was disgusting," Ald. Cavalier Johnson of the Northwest Side said. "Our police officers, for the most part, do a fantastic job. I know a lot of them. I work closely with a number of them. They do good work trying to improve relationships between law enforcement and the community. When you have actions like [Andrade's social media posts], it sets back all that work. It allows cynicism to move forward. It takes trust out of our community."
While Chief Morales is named in the suit, Ald. Mark Borkowski made the argument he wasn't the chief at the time of the incident and is doing his best to remedy the situation now. It's a sentiment shared by Hamilton.
"I have confidence in Chief Morales," Hamilton said. "I'm hoping the team he's building around them can handle this situation and deliver fairness on all sides. This is an opportunity. Not evcery situation do we have as much information that the public has access to. We want to be able to deal with this as a learning experience."
