27-02-2025
Here's the big takeaways from a monitoring program on the city's Fire and Police Commission
Milwaukee's oversight body for the city's police and fire departments is hampered by state law and its lack of engagement with the public, according to an oversight report from a city group.
The Milwaukee Turners, a city civics organization, conducted a six-month monitoring program of the Fire and Police Commission. The result was a dashboard with results and accompanying report that peppered the body with recommendations — including urging its members to better prepare for meetings and speak more during them — to better do its duties.
'We looked at the Fire and Police Commission because we noticed not a lot of people were attending or didn't know what (it) did,' said Emily Sterk, the research and advocacy associate for the Milwaukee Turners.
The Fire and Police Commission, or FPC, is one of the oldest police oversight boards in the country and handles things like recruitment for the two departments and employee discipline appeals hearings. The report was focused on the commission's nine-person civilian board, which holds two monthly meetings to hear updates on policy changes, personnel matters and other oversight matters.
The commission also has a staff of 27, who are employees of the city, and handles things like audits on the departments.
'It's a good thing for different groups ... to take interest in what the Fire and Police Commission is doing,' said Leon Todd, the executive director of the Fire and Police Commission.
The report comes as Krissie Fung, the Milwaukee Turners' associate director, was recently named to the Fire and Police Commission. Fung was removed from the monitoring program once the process to join the commission began, Sterk said.
The Milwaukee Turners promotes itself as the city's oldest civic group, founded in 1853. The organization advocates for civic engagement, while offering 'nonpartisan cultural and educational programs.'
The Turners are best known for their building Turner Hall, which hosts a popular music venue and gymnasium. The group, however, also is focused on advocacy through programs like its Zero Youth Corrections program and Confronting Mass Incarceration team. The latter team conducted the FPC monitoring program.
The Turners worked alongside students at the Milwaukee School of Engineering to collect notes and data on the meetings to build out the report. The organization hopes to find more volunteers in the future to continue its work, she said.
'The intention of both our monitoring program, the white paper, the dashboard, is not an indictment of the FPC,' Sterk said. 'Rather it's a call to the community to come to these meetings and for the FPC commissioners to engage with the public to continue to build that public trust.'
Here's what to know about the report's findings, while the organization's dashboard is available here:
Among the recommendations in the report is that efforts should be made to amend Wisconsin Act 12. That is a 2023 funding law that offered Milwaukee additional funding from the state and a local tax, but it came with hefty changes to how the Fire and Police Commission operates.
The law stripped the board of its policymaking power, which is now controlled by the city's police and fire chiefs. The changes led to the resignations of the then-chair and -vice chair of the commission in protest.
The report pushed the city to advocate at the state legislature for reverting that change in state law.
'I think the biggest thing, and the one thing we really want to underscore … is the way in which Act 12 has affected the FPC's policymaking authority,' Sterk said. 'This is sort of our clarion call. We really want to see Act 12 amended as soon as possible.'
While Todd disagreed with many of the report's conclusions, he was firm in agreeing with the organization's findings on Act 12's impact on the commission.
Its previous decisions to change policies for police on no-knock warrants, chokeholds and a 15-day video release policy for police shootings led to the changes, he said.
"Where the board diverged from what the Police Department and, more importantly, the police union wanted ... that's what led to the Act 12 changes," Todd said.
The Turners found during the monitoring of 11 meetings that, of 122 items on FPC agendas, 120 received unanimous approval. The other two items passed as well.
The Turners also suggested the commissioners on the board should prepare better and spend too much time on personnel matters, where discussions typically happen in sessions not open to the public. The group found the FPC spent 81% of time on personnel matters.
Across the entire monitoring period, the group said commissioners spoke only to vote or make motions 58% of the time.
'Given the current practices of the FPC, including closed sessions and lack of Commissioner participation during regular sessions, the public is left unaware of why these aye or no votes were made,' the report reads.
Todd said he "respectfully disagreed" with the assertion the board was not thorough in its deliberations or spent too long on personnel matters.
The usage of closed sessions is necessary during personnel decisions, as it deals with personal employment information, he said.
"I can't get into what is said or not said in closed session," Todd said. "I will say the commissioners are engaged and proactive in deliberating."
Despite Act 12's stripping the FPC of its policymaking authority, the Turners said the board should offer recommendations for changes to the city's Common Council.
In general, the commission should hold more substantial conversation on policy changes for the public's benefit, Sterk said. The report found that across 28 policy items, there were only six occurrences were a commissioner asked for further details or information.
"The FPC still has a soft power," she said. "They are still able to do things ... and the clearest way to do that is to bring policy recommendations."
Todd said the amount of "substantiative" policy decisions the board has faced since its policymaking power was removed is few. Most policy changes the commission discusses are administrative and, if the commissioners do disagree, they would first work with the departments on that, he said.
"The substantiative ones the (police) has made, the board has agreed with," Todd said. "I think if there were a situation where MPD made a policy change the board disagreed with, they would make a recommendation."
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee FPC monitoring group finds room for improvement
