Transparency concerns raised over FPC’s orders to Morales
In its directives issued Monday, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission made it clear it wants more transparency and accountability from Police Chief Alfonso Morales.
But in so doing, members of the public were left wanting more of the same from the FPC.
All in less than 20 minutes yesterday, the FPC convened for a public meeting, read a long, detailed list of directives to issue to Morales, voted to approve those directives and adjourned.
Those directives included many demands for providing information on specific investigations, discipline cases and other police matters, with steep penalties facing Morales if he does not comply — including possible termination.
But the directives didn’t come with much explanation from the FPC about how or why they were drafted or how commissioners so quickly came to agree on all of them.
A written list of the directives also was not released publicly until about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, nor was the police department given a copy by 3 p.m.
The episode has sparked renewed criticism of the FPC for a lack of transparency.
The agenda for Monday’s commission meeting made it clear the commission would consider directives to issue to Morales, but nobody on the FPC gave any hint as to what was
coming. Morales said beforehand he did not know what to expect and after the meeting, his lawyer said that’s when he heard the directives for the first time.
When the meeting started, FPC Executive Director Griselda Aldrete almost immediately began reading from a long, detailed list of directives with a series of corresponding deadlines, finishing after 16 minutes.
There was no discussion and no commissioners asked any questions about the resolution. They approved it on a 6-0 vote and ended the entire meeting after just 19 and a half minutes.
Angela McKenzie was absent from the meeting and the only commissioner not to vote on the matter.
On Tuesday morning, Aldrete said she would not release a written copy of the directives until the resolution approving them was signed by members of the commission, most of whom have been conducting FPC business from their homes throughout the pandemic.
Before the directives were released, she argued that her reading of the directives word-for-word at the meeting constituted transparency.
When asked to identify the state statute that allows a public document to be withheld until officials sign it, Aldrete said she was consulting with the city attorney’s office.
City Clerk Jim Owczarski said Tuesday morning he did not have the document in his custody.
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the commission should have deliberated openly about the directives before voting and that the written document should have been released much sooner.
“If they passed this in three minutes, where and when did they discuss it?” Lueders said. “That was supposed to be a public process. The public is supposed to see the deliberative process that is engaged in before a vote is taken. Did they do that in private and then come back in a brief meeting to ratify what they’ve already decided? That’s not right.”
He also said that the failure to release the written document to the public sooner is a “point-blank violation of open records law” and a “purposeful delay” of its release.
“I’m not sure a court would necessarily agree, but that’s the way I would frame it,” he said.
In a Facebook post Monday, Reggie Moore, director of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, also ripped the commission for its lack of transparency regarding the meeting and the six-month job evaluation of Morales it’s been performing off and on for the last several weeks.
“At a time when the world is calling for greater transparency and justice when it comes to policing, the Fire and Police Commission continues to provide the opposite,” he wrote. “The most powerful citizen review board in the country functions as the weakest and continues to foster confusion and division, that threatens the safety of residents, officers, and our city. The Commission not only needs to be expanded but replaced with individuals who understand their role, value transparency, and take their power and responsibility seriously.”
Shortly before Monday’s meeting began, more than 100 protesters calling for Morales to be fired showed up outside City Hall. They were locked out of the building but pounded on doors throughout the session, arguing they should be allowed inside for a public meeting.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the session was held as a “virtual” meeting, giving participants the option to attend via online video conference, which was also broadcast for the public to watch. A number of important figures still attended in person, including two out of seven commissioners, Aldrete, Morales and other MPD officials.
Lueders said the decision to limit the public’s physical attendance was probably acceptable, given the health concerns of the pandemic and the online broadcast of the meeting.
Before the meeting, the FPC released a statement saying no members of the public would be allowed in the meeting room due to health concerns. Members of the media were allowed to wait in a hallway outside the room.