OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission Regular Session - April 2, 2026

City Plan Commission — Thursday, April 2, 2026
BodyMilwaukee, Wisconsin
SessionCity Plan Commission
DateThursday, April 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:16:22

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

This is the April 2nd, 2026 regular meeting of the Fire and Police Commission.

0:05

President Commissioner Burgos, Evans, Fung, World Patterson, and myself, Commissioner Ramey, Commissioner Horowitz, Spence Spencer, and Commissioner Snyder are excused.

0:15

In the absence of Chair Horowitz and Vice Chair Spencer this evening, I'll be chairing today's meeting.

0:21

Also present our FPC executive director Leon Todd and Deputy Director Jay Pusick.

0:26

Director, please proceed with the agenda.

0:29

Thank you, Mr.

0:29

Chair.

0:29

We will begin with item number one, public comment.

0:32

For those who would like to speak and are here in person, please come up and sit at the front table when your name is called.

0:38

If you are appearing virtually and have registered to uh speak in it, if you have registered in advance to speak, please use the raise my hand feature in the webinar tools and unmute yourself when called upon to speak.

0:49

Uh each person will be given up to five minutes to speak, and we will begin with people who are here in person, starting with Michelle Hilbert.

1:04

Good evening.

1:09

Hello.

1:10

Hi.

1:10

Uh uh I ask you uh what conditions would increase safety for as many people as possible.

1:17

Uh this I'm um speaking to uh 212429.

1:23

I'm part of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

1:26

I'm uh speaking to you because public safety should mean fewer people being harmed.

1:32

Not more explanations after harm has already happened.

1:36

MPD's policy acknowledges that no task is worth reckless danger, yet MPD still allows individual officers to decide if they will prefer pursue.

1:47

If chases are this dangerous, they should not be routine, causing harm to officers, community members, the city as a whole, and our tax dollars.

1:55

These chases need to be called what they are, critical incidents and must adhere to SOP 575, releasing video to families in the public as outlined in the policy.

2:09

As an a public institution must be more transparent by continuously providing the public with data on these dangerous pursuits.

2:19

We deserve to know where and how much of our tax dollars are being spent on them.

2:24

And at the least, be honest when answering what does safety look like for us and our community.

2:30

Thank you for considering these thoughts.

2:32

Thank you.

2:33

Thank you.

2:38

Freddie De Los Santos.

2:43

Good evening.

2:45

Good evening.

2:47

Um will be uh regarding the guest house on 13.

3:06

Is this are you intending to uh address the fire and police commission?

3:09

No.

3:10

Or the uh uh um the next voting and a so I am in the room very interesting.

3:15

Sorry, sorry.

3:16

That was 301A.

3:17

Okay, so that's what he said.

3:19

Okay, good.

3:20

Thank you.

3:29

Diego Garcia.

3:39

Good evening.

3:40

Good evening, Commissioners.

3:41

My name is Diego Garcia.

3:42

I'm a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

3:46

I uh I normally think it's bad form to come out swinging, you know, talking about you know, the FBC doesn't do this, they don't do that, you know, yada yada yada.

3:53

But I I I really need to, I guess, talk about you know the lackluster, you know, changes, I guess that were discussed at that uh committee meeting the other day.

4:02

What's being proposed lacks real power, you know, to keep our streets and community members safe.

4:06

We have been very clear on what our demands are, which was formed by families that have been affected by these reckless police cases, and this is nothing short of mild.

4:15

You know, I'm trying to keep it very politically correct here.

4:18

Well, one thing that you know was told to me is that you know there will have to be multiple SOPs uh needing to be changed, you know, if our demand regarding the footage and these critical incidents need to be for you know once be fulfilled.

4:30

But you know, like there's so many steps to this.

4:33

However, you know, I say so what?

4:34

You know, so what if it takes longer to have qualitative positive changes in our community, you know, and its well-being, it's it's a very small price to pay.

4:42

You know, if it takes like a few months, so the heck what, you know.

4:47

You know, we've heard commissioners of this board talk about you know, needing input from the public, which I'm still yet to see any sort of public-facing meeting, you know, talking about these car chases.

5:00

Yeah, the Milwaukee Alliance has been out since you know January late January, you know, collecting over 224 signatures, you know, in a few months here.

5:05

And what what goes across the board is that you know they want real changes to this policy, not not just you know, a single line of text being changed, you know, based off of what Minneapolis has.

5:15

You know, from here on out, you know, the alliance will be working with members of the common council, you know, to hopefully modify 660 into being something that can actually you know have like real parameters rather than having these you know chases, you know, to keep going and going.

5:29

I I personally respect this board still, but if things like you know, this lackluster recommendation continue to happen, it's gonna get a lot harder for me to keep defending this board.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Police Procedures█████████████████████████████████████████████67%
Personnel Matters██████████15%
Procedural██████9%
Community Engagement███5%
Public Safety██3%
Animal Welfare█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission Regular Session

April 2, 2026

The Fire and Police Commission (FPC) met in regular session at 5:41 PM on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in City Hall Room 301-B and virtually. Commissioners present: Dana World-Patterson, Ruben Burgos, LaNelle Ramey (chairing), Ramon Evans, and Krissie Fung. Excused: Miriam Horwitz, Bree Spencer, Christopher Snyder, and Jeff Spence. The meeting adjourned at 6:57 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • FPC212463: Resolution adopting the March 19, 2026 meeting minutes — adopted by general consent.
  • FPC212464: Resolution for appointment date change of a Maintenance Assistant within MPD — adopted by general consent.
  • FPC212465: Resolution for appointment date changes for two Police Services Specialist-Investigator positions — adopted by general consent.
  • FPC212466: Resolution for Forensic Print Examiner 1 eligible list — adopted by general consent.
  • FPC212467: Resolution for HVAC Maintenance Technician 3 eligible list — adopted by general consent.
  • FPC212468: Resolution for Police Forensic Services Manager eligible list — adopted by general consent.

Public Comments & Testimony

Six individuals spoke during public comment, nearly all regarding Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 660 on vehicle pursuits. Their positions:

  • Michele Hilbert (Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression) urged treating chases as critical incidents, releasing video per SOP 575, and providing public data on pursuit costs.
  • Diego Garcia (same alliance) criticized proposed changes as "lackluster," demanded real parameters, and noted the alliance collected over 224 signatures for reform. He stated the alliance will work with the Common Council.
  • Gladyl Higgins (mother of Anthony Higgins, who died after a 2024 pursuit crash) pleaded for action to prevent further innocent deaths.
  • Tiffany Stark (Milwaukee Lince member, mental health social worker) expressed urgency for changes to wording "is about to commit a violent felony," demanded video release to families within 48 hours and public within 15 days, and noted that pursuit death data still did not include her daughter's father.
  • Brian Verdin (community advocate) supported taking time to get the policy right, presented over 220 signatures collected by the alliance, and urged treating pursuit fatalities as critical incidents with public video release.
  • Pierce Nienhaus (Milwaukee Alliance) argued current language does not go far enough, called for striking "is about to commit a violent felony," and demanded more data and video release.

Discussion Items

SOP 660 – Vehicle Pursuits (Item 9, FPC212429) The resolution to recommend modifications to SOP 660 was debated at length. Assistant Chief Craig Sarnow stated MPD will keep the existing language regarding "has committed, is committing, or about to commit a violent felony" and will not add a list of felonies. He noted that pursuit mitigation technology (Star Chase, Haas Mobile Alert) is being deployed. Commissioners discussed the need for further community input and possible changes to other SOPs (e.g., 575) for video release. Commissioner Burgos emphasized the difficulty in defining "recklessness" and the need for community dialogue. Commissioners Fung and Evans agreed with taking more time to get it right. The item was held to the call of the chair by a 5–0 vote (motion by Burgos, second by Fung).

Cocroft Points – Volunteer Service Preference Points (Item 10, FPC212450) This rule change adds promotional preference points for volunteer service (with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public school, charter, or private school), named after former Commissioner Cocroft. Commissioner Fung moved approval effective for job announcements issued on or after June 1, 2026. The motion carried 5–0 on a roll call vote.

Police Aide Rule Amendment (Item 11, FPC212451) The rule reduces the minimum service time for police aides from two years to one year, provided the aide reaches age 21, making them eligible for the next police officer recruit class. Adopted 5–0 on a roll call vote.

MPD SOP Changes – Foot Pursuits and Canines (Item 12, FPC212471) Assistant Chief Sarnow presented new SOP 100 (Foot Pursuits), which establishes guidelines requiring articulable reasonable suspicion, supervisory oversight, and documentation. He also presented an amendment to SOP 320 (Canines) to include a new electronic storage detection canine ("Ellis") assigned to Internet Crimes Against Children. The communication was placed on file.

Fire Department Promotions and Reappointments (Items 13–19) All eight resolutions were approved unanimously (5–0 each):

  • EMS Technical Resource Specialist (Matthew J. Walters)
  • EMS Supervisor (Chad E. Shepherdson)
  • Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative Lead Assistant (Alberto Usconda)
  • Milwaukee Overdose Initiative Practitioner (Thaddeus I. Dowell)
  • Fire Lieutenant (2 promotions: Jordan D. Breznek and John R. Cholstowski)
  • Reappointment of former firefighter (effective date, housekeeping)
  • Reappointment of former recruit firefighter

Police Department – Reappointment of Former Recruit (Item 20, FPC212472) The board had met in closed session earlier. Following the chief’s recommendation, the resolution was placed on file (effectively a denial) by a 5–0 vote.

Key Outcomes

  • SOP 660 vehicle pursuit modifications held to call of the chair for further deliberation and community input.
  • Cocroft Points rule change adopted, effective June 1, 2026, for promotional examinations.
  • Police aide rule change adopted, reducing minimum service requirement to one year.
  • New foot pursuit SOP (100) and canine SOP amendment (320) placed on file.
  • All fire department promotions and reappointments approved unanimously.
  • Police department reappointment request denied (placed on file).
  • Public comments and demands will inform ongoing policy discussions, particularly on pursuit video release and data transparency.

Meeting Transcript

This is the April 2nd, 2026 regular meeting of the Fire and Police Commission. President Commissioner Burgos, Evans, Fung, World Patterson, and myself, Commissioner Ramey, Commissioner Horowitz, Spence Spencer, and Commissioner Snyder are excused. In the absence of Chair Horowitz and Vice Chair Spencer this evening, I'll be chairing today's meeting. Also present our FPC executive director Leon Todd and Deputy Director Jay Pusick. Director, please proceed with the agenda. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will begin with item number one, public comment. For those who would like to speak and are here in person, please come up and sit at the front table when your name is called. If you are appearing virtually and have registered to uh speak in it, if you have registered in advance to speak, please use the raise my hand feature in the webinar tools and unmute yourself when called upon to speak. Uh each person will be given up to five minutes to speak, and we will begin with people who are here in person, starting with Michelle Hilbert. Good evening. Hello. Hi. Uh uh I ask you uh what conditions would increase safety for as many people as possible. Uh this I'm um speaking to uh 212429. I'm part of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. I'm uh speaking to you because public safety should mean fewer people being harmed. Not more explanations after harm has already happened. MPD's policy acknowledges that no task is worth reckless danger, yet MPD still allows individual officers to decide if they will prefer pursue. If chases are this dangerous, they should not be routine, causing harm to officers, community members, the city as a whole, and our tax dollars. These chases need to be called what they are, critical incidents and must adhere to SOP 575, releasing video to families in the public as outlined in the policy. As an a public institution must be more transparent by continuously providing the public with data on these dangerous pursuits. We deserve to know where and how much of our tax dollars are being spent on them. And at the least, be honest when answering what does safety look like for us and our community. Thank you for considering these thoughts. Thank you. Thank you. Freddie De Los Santos. Good evening. Good evening. Um will be uh regarding the guest house on 13. Is this are you intending to uh address the fire and police commission? No. Or the uh uh um the next voting and a so I am in the room very interesting. Sorry, sorry. That was 301A. Okay, so that's what he said. Okay, good. Thank you. Diego Garcia. Good evening. Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Diego Garcia. I'm a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. I uh I normally think it's bad form to come out swinging, you know, talking about you know, the FBC doesn't do this, they don't do that, you know, yada yada yada. But I I I really need to, I guess, talk about you know the lackluster, you know, changes, I guess that were discussed at that uh committee meeting the other day. What's being proposed lacks real power, you know, to keep our streets and community members safe. We have been very clear on what our demands are, which was formed by families that have been affected by these reckless police cases, and this is nothing short of mild. You know, I'm trying to keep it very politically correct here.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com