Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission Regular Meeting – May 21, 2026
Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission Regular Meeting – May 21, 2026
The Fire and Police Commission (FPC) held its regular session on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 5:32 p.m. in City Hall Room 301-B. Six commissioners were present (Spence, World-Patterson, Burgos, Spencer, Evans, Snyder); three were excused (Horwitz, Ramey, Fung). Vice Chair Bree Spencer chaired in the absence of Chair Miriam Horwitz. The meeting covered 18 agenda items, including public comment, consent agenda, a revised police sergeant job announcement, a duty-to-intervene SOP modification, a report on low-acuity calls, the 2025 vehicle pursuit report, and several personnel actions.
Consent Calendar
- Items 2–8 were adopted by general consent without debate: approval of May 7, 2026 meeting minutes; appointments to Helpdesk Specialist II (2), Police Services Specialist – Investigator, and Office Assistant III positions; and approval of Electronic Technician 1, 2, and 3 eligible lists for the Milwaukee Police Department.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Omar Barberena (Voces de la Frontera) expressed full support for the resolution to protect Milwaukee residents from aggressive ICE tactics, citing constitutional violations and public safety concerns.
- Tiffany Stark voiced frustration with the lack of communication from the common council (“the elders”) and the rejection of the commission’s unanimous vehicle pursuit motion. She called for more public input and criticized Act 12.
- Representative Ryan Clancy strongly supported the SOP modification, stating it is “beyond ridiculous” that such legislation is necessary. He criticized MPD Chief Norman for refusing to commit to enforcing state and local law against ICE violations, and he endorsed Substitute C.
- Ann Ritchey supported changing the SOP to apply the same duty-to-intervene standards to federal officers. She preferred Substitute B because it included a duty to investigate.
- Bruce Wiggins (728 E. Pleasant Street) supported the previous speakers and asked whether the resolution would protect voting rights (he was told it does not).
- Amy Donahue briefly added her support for an SOP to protect Milwaukee from ICE.
- Jim Carpenter (Peace Action co-chair) urged the commission to take a moral stand against ICE, citing alleged crimes by ICE and the kidnapping of Salah Sarsour. He asked that MPD protect all residents.
- Julie Hueller-Curcio (virtual) asked about MPD training tracking systems, record retention, and transparency regarding foreign training (e.g., Chief Norman’s trip to Israel). She requested that training concerns be added to a future FPC agenda.
Discussion Items
- Item 9 (Police Sergeant Job Announcement Bulletin): Moved before public comment. The executive director explained changes: reducing the continuous service requirement from seven to six years, and allowing officers with at least two years of detective experience to test with a minimum five years total service. The resolution was adopted unanimously by voice vote.
- Item 10 (Duty to Intervene SOP – Common Council File No. 251799): After extensive discussion, the commission voted to recommend Substitute C (the city attorney’s recommendation) to the Common Council. Substitute C removes the duty to investigate but retains the duty to intervene and report unreasonable uses of force, including by federal officers. The vote was 6–0. Alderman Brower committed to working with the city attorney on a separate SOP for investigations. Commissioner Spencer noted that existing investigatory rules already cover such matters.
- Item 11 (Low-Acuity Calls / Alternative Response): Assistant Chief Josh Parrish (MFD) presented a detailed overview of the Community Intervention Task Force (CITF) work, including Dr. Amy Watson’s report, the potential for telephonic/video response, and plans to integrate behavioral health clinicians. The item was held to the call of the chair (motion carried).
- Item 12 (2025 Vehicle Pursuit Report): The executive director summarized the report: 970 pursuits in 2025 (up from 957 in 2024), 76% due to reckless driving, nine fatalities (six third-party), and increasing speeds (70% over 75 mph). The report was placed on file.
- Item 13 (MPD SOP Changes – SOP 010 Absence): The change clarifies funeral leave verification and removes an optional holiday for civilian members (César Chávez Day). The communication was placed on file.
- Item 14 (Executive Director Report – Staffing and Operations): The report included updated citizen complaint categories. Placed on file.
Key Outcomes
- Item 9 (Sergeant Job Announcement): Adopted unanimously (6-0).
- Item 10 (Duty to Intervene SOP): Motion to recommend Substitute C carried 6-0. The recommendation will go to the Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Committee.
- Item 11 (Low-Acuity Calls): Held to the call of the chair (motion carried).
- Item 12 (Vehicle Pursuit Report): Placed on file.
- Item 13 (MPD SOP Changes): Placed on file.
- Item 14 (Executive Director Report): Placed on file.
- Item 15 (Emergency Communications Manager promotion – Hannah Lore Rodriguez): Approved 6-0.
- Item 16 (Seven Emergency Communications Officer II promotions): Approved 6-0.
- Item 17 (Crime Analyst II promotion – Caleb Belsiger): Approved 6-0.
- Item 18 (Probation extension for a Police Sergeant): Approved by voice vote.
The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
The May 21st, 2026, regular meeting of the Fire and Police Commission. Present are Commissioners Burgos, Evans, Snyder, Spence, World Patterson, and myself, Commissioner Spencer. Commissioners Horowitz, Raimi, and Fung are excused. And Chair Horowitz's absence, I'll be chairing today's meetings of the vice chair. Also present are FPC executive executive director Leon Todd and Deputy Director Jay Pusick. Before we start with the agenda, I want to be clear. We have item nine is going to get moved up. This is very atypical, but removing it quickly before public comment because there needs if there's any edits to this document, it needs to happen like tonight before a certain time. So we're going to do that really quickly, and then we'll proceed with public comment. So that's um item number nine. Okay. So uh this is as the chair mentioned item nine, which is under examinations. It's uh file number FPC 212534 resolution relating to the approval of the police sergeant job announcement bulletin within the Milwaukee police department. I do want to draw the commissioners' attention to uh a few uh updated items with uh with this document, uh updated from uh with respect to the last round of testing uh for the sergeant position, uh which was about uh two years ago. So typically what we have done since at least 2019 is require a continuous service period of seven years in order to test for the sergeant position to meet the minimum requirements. Uh we had a discussion at the testing and recruiting committee uh earlier this month, or excuse me, earlier this month, where it was recommended to uh by FPC staff to reduce the seven-year time period to six years. Um my understanding was that the consensus of all the testing and recruiting committee members was favorable to that, so and uh the department is in agreement with that. In addition, uh there was also uh my understanding was that it was a unanimous consensus among the committee members to add a another provision saying that if for members that have at least two years of detective experience, uh they would be eligible to take the sergeant's exam, provided they have a minimum of a total of five years of experience as either an officer or a detective or some combination of that. So this job posting reflects those changes. Again, for all members, uh minimum service requirement of six years, and then for members with at least two years of detective experience, uh minimum continuous service total requirement of five years. Um, happy to answer any questions. Okay, do any of the commissioners have any comments or questions regarding this item? Okay, all right. Uh I will take a voice vote on this item. Oh, we need a motion first. So uh if there's a motion. So second. All right, great. Um, any discussion? Okay. So I'll take a voice vote. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Okay, great. Any opposed? I think that was all of us. Any abstentions? Uh motion carries. Director, let's go back to public comment. All right, excellent. So, item one is public comment. Uh, 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 in advance to speak, please use the raise my hand feature in the webinar tools and unmute yourself when called upon to speak. Each person will be given up to five minutes to speak, and we will begin as usual with uh with individuals who are here in person. Uh the first person I have is Omar Barbarina. Good evening, yes. Thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of Voces de la Frontera and our community members. We proudly support this resolution to protect Milaki residents from aggressive ICE tactics. Every family deserves to feel safe in their neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and places of worships without fear of intimidation. This resolution is a proactive response to the well-documented abuse and constitutional violations on the part of CBP and ICE that have been terrorizing community residents, profiling, physically assaulting, and even killing immigrants and US citizens in their search operations. We're not these politics and the and the funding of this cruel, senseless and expensive operations will only continue.
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