The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission voted Thursday evening on a policy that dramatically speeds up the release of police body camera video.
The MPD previously has no standard operating procedure for the release of critical incident video. Now, however, police will be required to release video footage to the public within 15 days of an officer-involved death or other critical incidents.
The approved plan also allows the next of kin of people killed by police the opportunity to view the video within 48 hours of the critical incident. There are some exceptions, including if the next of kin was a witness to or involved in the incident.
BREAKING: The MKE Fire & Police Commission adopted a new video release policy for MPD to adhere to following an officer-involved shooting/critical incident that includes:
— Taylor Lumpkin (@TaylorLumpkinTV) April 21, 2023
1.Releasing video to public within 15 days
2.Notifying family within 48 hours of releasing it to the public pic.twitter.com/EIjYWDWffW
The police chief will not be allowed to delay the release of footage following the 15-day time frame, regardless of reasoning.
"We understand these issues continue to happen and families and loved ones are left with a lot of questions," said Angela Lang, the Executive Director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities.
The new policy will go into effect next month, on May 1.
Pressure from a number of activist groups and community outrage following officer-involved shootings and the death of people in police custody has put pressure on the Commission to establish a policy.
"I know that investigations are technical, they take time. But we also want to make sure we are supporting the families and their time in their hardest hit tragedy," said Lang.
Law enforcement has expressed concern about a quick release, both for the protection of officers and the integrity of investigations.
"A 48-hour window to show families doesn't respect the rights of the officers. The officers, under Marsy's Law, also have to be considered into this," said Andrew Wagner, President of the Milwaukee Police Association.
"There's no restriction that the family can't talk about that video to the media or anyone else after that policy so they can put out whatever narrative they want. And a release within 15 days doesn't allow the investigation time to work."
Since 2018, Milwaukee Police have released 28 critical incident videos.
The average time it took to release a video was 52.6 days. The shortest release came in 41 days. The longest was 105 days.
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