Sheriff’s deputies have discretion on when to chase
Decision should prioritize public safety, security
Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies have wide discretion when it comes to chasing vehicles, a review of the agency’s policies show.
Calls from local lawmakers to release the policy came after a deputy, who was on foot, fired into an Audi SUV fleeing a deputy squad car trying to pull it over for a traffic violation near Bradford Beach. The gunfire killed Terry Williams, the driver of the SUV, and wounded passenger Paula McEwen. The agency’s policies on pursuits and use of force do not explicitly address if deputies should shoot into a moving vehicle. Experts have said shooting into a moving vehicle carries great risk, and there are few scenarios where law enforcement officers would be justified to do so.
The Sheriff’s Office allows deputies to chase for criminal or traffic offenses when the “necessity of immediate apprehension outweighs the level of danger created by the pursuit,” according to the policy.
“The ultimate responsibility is to protect the public,” the policy says.
Deputies are instructed to consider the risk to the public, time of day, road, weather and environmental conditions, as well as pedestrian traffic and population density. The lakefront was crowded with pedestrians and drivers on the Sunday evening when Williams fled and the deputy chased.
Milwaukee County deputies have undertaken between six and 14 pursuits each year for about the past decade, according to state Department of Transportation records. Most of those pursuits related to a traffic violation.
Wisconsin law requires police departments to have a written pursuit policy but only offers broad guidelines, resulting in a patchwork of pursuit rules throughout Milwaukee County. Some agencies, such as the Milwaukee Police Department, allow chases only if the vehicle or its occupants have been linked to a violent crime or are a “clear and immediate” threat to the safety of others.
Williams, 19, was driving with his girlfriend, McEwen, 23, and another woman near the lakefront about 7:40 p.m. June 11 when sheriff’s officials say he failed to comply with a traffic stop after making an illegal left turn out of a parking lot.
Dash-cam video released last week showed a deputy squad car attempting to pull over the Audi SUV as it headed west up Water Tower Road.
The footage showed the deputy following as Williams cut through a rare gap in the bumper-tobumper oncoming traffic, driving across a grassy field and onto southbound Lincoln Memorial Drive.
Williams turned left again across the median, making a U-turn of sorts, and headed back north into the median near where Deputy Michael Truax was standing.
Truax fired into the vehicle, hitting Williams in the head and McEwen in the shoulder and right hand. Sheriff’s officials say a loaded handgun was found in the car. Attorneys for Williams’ family have said the gun has nothing to do with the chase, arguing the release of that information was part of an attempt to “villainize” Williams.
The Sheriff’s Office use-of-force policy is three sentences and includes guidance that “the degree of force used shall be only that which a reasonable officer would deem necessary given the same circumstances and information.”
That standard takes into account the severity
of the crime, whether a person poses an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others and whether a person is actively resisting arrest.
Milwaukee police have said Williams was connected to a dispute on June 10 that erupted in gunfire but did not injure anyone. It is not clear whether deputies were aware Williams was wanted for questioning when they chased him.
Williams’ alleged accomplice in that incident, 27-year-old Daniel Nash of Cudahy, was charged Friday with first-degree recklessly endangering safety and disorderly conduct. Nash’s attorney has said he was in the Audi SUV with Williams during the lakefront shooting.