Contact: Timothy Schabo
920.915.0479
MILWAUKEE, WI – Rep. David Crowley (D-Milwaukee) issued the following statement in response to the body cam footage released yesterday by the Milwaukee Police Department:
“While I am deeply disturbed and appalled with the blatant abuse of power by the Milwaukee Police Officers involved in the Sterling Brown incident, I cannot say that I am surprised. Across the nation, African Americans have been subject to unjust and unwarranted police brutality for decades. If this attack had not been to a NBA player and caught on camera, we probably would never have heard of the incident.
“What does surprise me is the response by Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales; who stated that the department will have greater transparency when it comes to situations like this. However, before his press conference he gave a written statement about the release of the body cam videos, read the statement verbatimly before the videos were released to the public, and did not take any questions. If this is what greater transparency looks like, I am afraid nothing is going to change.
“Bad cops make the job of good cops that much more difficult. We cannot allow or enable this kind of despicable behavior. In order to truly protect and serve our community as a whole, we need a police departments that see us not as threats or problems but as the human beings that we are.”
