MILWAUKEE, WI – The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) will host a press conference on Friday, February 25, 2022, outside of City Hall at noon. At this press conference, MAARPR will be demanding that the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission (FPC) create the following policy: policy that guarantees footage of police misconduct to be released within 48 hours, and policy that ensures the names of the officers involved in cases of misconduct to be released within 24 hours. This demand comes from 4 families who lost their loved ones to MPD’s killing spree in 2021. MPD killed 4 different people in the span of a few months, 3 of those killings happening within 2 weeks.
Since similar policies have already been adopted by other cities, these demands are more than reasonable. The FPC has an opportunity to design policy that can help hold the police accountable. In our conversations with commissioners, we have noticed that when the FPC wants to get something done, they get it done quickly.
As there will be new leadership coming to Milwaukee, specifically through filling the Mayor’s seat, there can also be a change in the commissioners that are appointed to the Milwaukee FPC. MAARPR demands that whoever is elected into the Mayor’s seat will be consulting directly with grassroots organizations that fight against police crimes to appoint appropriate community members to the FPC. The FPC cannot be seen as an entity that holds the police accountable if the police still have so much say over what they can or can’t do.
The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) campaigns against police crimes committed primarily against the poor and Black, Indigeneous, and people of color. We demand the creation of a civilian police accountability council, or CPAC, to ensure that our community is in direct control of our police force.
