Fire Police Commission Oversight & Accountability Committee Meeting - May 26, 2026
Fire Police Commission Oversight & Accountability Committee Meeting - May 26, 2026
The Fire Police Commission's Oversight and Accountability Committee met on May 26, 2026, at 10:30 AM under the chairmanship of Commissioner Burgos. Commissioners Fong, Horowitz, Schneider, and Spence were also present, along with Executive Director Leon Todd and Deputy Director J. Pusick. The committee reviewed several reports and discussed ongoing initiatives regarding citizen complaints, use of force data, emergency response times, and a proposed law student clinic for pro se litigants.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the March 24, 2026 meeting minutes (FPC 212543) unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public appeared in person or virtually.
Discussion Items
FPC 212544 – 2026 Citizen Complaint Categories
Executive Director Todd presented a memo breaking down 2026 citizen complaints by category (e.g., excessive use of force, failure to activate body camera, failure to fully investigate). Approximately 20 complaints were received to date. Commissioner Horowitz asked for year-over-year comparisons to assess trends. Commissioner Burgos requested tracking of complaints made in Spanish/other languages and the outcomes (sustained vs. not sustained) by category. Todd agreed to provide follow-up data. The committee also discussed complaints marked “no FPC jurisdiction” (15 cases) and the process for referring complainants to the appropriate agency.
FPC 212545 – Pro Se Complainants and Appellants
Deputy Director Pusick proposed establishing a partnership with a law school (Marquette or UW-Madison) to create a clinical program where law students would assist unrepresented litigants in citizen complaint trials and disciplinary appeals. Key points included: no licensure issues as advocates need not be attorneys; potential liability covered by the law school’s insurance; and the program would be offered to all parties (complainants, civilian employees, and possibly union members). Commissioners expressed strong support, noting that pro se proceedings often become tangled and unfair. Discussion covered cost concerns (experts, travel), income thresholds (preferred none), and the need to inform litigants about the structured nature of hearings. Staff will continue outreach to law schools and report back.
FPC 212546 – Referrals for Citizen Complaint Trials
Todd outlined three categories of complaint dispositions: policy review/counseling, citizen complaint trial (for discipline of 5+ days), and an intermediate category (reprimand or 1–2 days suspension). He sought guidance on handling intermediate cases, noting that referring them to MPD’s Internal Affairs may conflict with complainants’ expectations for independent FPC handling. Commissioners discussed the rarity of trials (fewer than 5 per year in the intermediate bucket) and agreed the issue could be revisited once a pro se advocate program is in place. No formal decision was made; staff will continue current practices.
FPC 212547 – 2025 Use of Force Report
Todd summarized the annual report: 1,871 use-of-force incidents in 2025, of which 986 involved only pointing/displaying a firearm (non-physical) and 885 involved physical force or firearm discharge, down from 917 in 2024. Bodily force was the most common type. Thirteen incidents involved a firearm discharge at a person, resulting in 5 fatalities. Police districts 7 and 3 accounted for 39% of all incidents. Seventeen incidents prompted investigations. Commissioner Horowitz asked for officer discipline outcomes; Todd noted that information is in separate MPD quarterly reports. The committee requested more detail on deadly force incidents and expressed a desire for separate tracking of firearm pointing vs. display.
FPC 212548 – Q4 2025 & Q1 2026 911 Call Wait Times
The DEC met or exceeded response time benchmarks: 90% of calls answered within 15 seconds, 95% within 20 seconds. In Q1 2026, 99% were answered within both thresholds, and 100% within 90 seconds. No emergency calls exceeded 180 seconds. Only nine non-emergency administrative calls exceeded that time. Commissioners commended the improvement.
FPC 212549 – Q1–Q2 2025 MPD and MFD Response Times
For high-priority MPD calls, median response time (call to on-scene) was 10 minutes, mean 15 minutes, unchanged from prior quarters. MFD EMS travel time mean was 4.9 minutes (median 4.3), fire response travel time approximately 2 minutes. Commissioner Horowitz asked about national standards for response times; staff will research. Commissioner Spence requested analysis by zip code or aldermanic district to identify disparities. Commissioner Fong seconded adding a heat map for fire response. Staff will consider for future reports.
FPC 212550 – 2025 Annual Policy Review
Todd presented the statutory summary of policy changes made in 2025. Commissioners questioned the depth of the review, suggesting that future reports should include substantive analysis of major SOP changes (e.g., surveillance technology, use of force, vehicle pursuits) rather than a list of all changes. Some noted that the report is primarily for the common council but that the commission would benefit from deeper evaluation.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved unanimously.
- Staff directed to provide follow-up data on complaints (year-over-year trends, language line usage, sustained outcomes).
- Staff will continue exploring law school partnerships for a pro se advocate program and report back.
- No change to complaint trial referral policy at this time; issue to be revisited when advocate program is established.
- Use of force report accepted; commissioners requested additional detail on deadly force incidents and separate tracking of firearm display vs. pointing.
- Staff to research national response time standards and consider geographic analysis of response times.
- Policy review summary noted; future reports should include more substantive review of major policy changes.
Meeting Transcript
This is the May 26, 20 2026 meeting of the Fire Police Commission's Oversight and Accountability Committee. Present our Commissioners Fong, Horowitz, Schneider, Spence, and myself, Commissioner Burgos. Also present our FPC Executive Director Leon Todd and Deputy Director J. Pusick. Director, please proceed with the agenda. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will begin with item number one, which is public comment. However, I we do not have anyone, any people with us uh in person this evening. Bridget, do we have anyone appearing virtually? And she's just no one appearing virtually, Director. All right. There being no further comments. This concludes the public comment portion of the meeting. Director, please proceed with the agenda. The second item on the agenda is FPC 212543 resolution relating to the March 24th, 2026 meeting minutes. Is there a motion on this matter? Mr. Chair moved to approve those minutes. Second. Any discussion? I'll take a vote. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion carries. Director, please proceed with the agenda. The third item on the agenda is FPC 212544 communication from fire and police commission staff relating to FPC citizen complaints in 2026. And for this item, uh there's a short memo in the file. Um just summarizing the uh the complaint categories that we've received to date in 2026 along with the dispositions. Uh there had been a previous request to have uh the categories of complaints uh have a little bit more specificity than what was previously provided, which was uh I think, you know, half a dozen categories and uh it included things like department procedure or um department policy or services which isn't very descriptive. This one uh now lists things like excessive use of force, failure to activate body war and camera, failure to file a re file a report, uh, and so on. Uh, it also includes things like unfair arrest, uh illegal search and seizure. Um so though the complaints to date in 2026 are now broken down in this in these categories. I think there's about uh 20 or so of them. Uh this information is largely uh if not virtually the same as what was in my uh monthly report, but I did want to just present it uh as a standalone item just to uh give members a little bit more time to uh review it and ask questions if they would so like. So with that said, I'm happy to answer questions. Do any commissioners have questions? I do. Yes. Yes, Commissioner Hornitz. Thank you. Well, I I'm wondering. I mean, they kind of in this initial list in the memo, uh it's indicating that failure to fully investigate, you had 10, and uh excessive use of force you had nine. I mean, I I'm wondering whether the failure to fully investigate is on the rise comparatively, whether or not the use of force is on the downward slope. I just would like to know what's some kind of comparison because it seems odd to me that there would be um a leading number of the failure to investigate. I I what do you think about that? That's a very good question, and to be perfectly honest, it's one that I did not prepare for uh to discuss whether or not these are consistent or uh contrary to any trends that uh that we may have seen over the last few years or so. Uh I will look into that and and get you some follow-up information on it.
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