Milwaukee’s new police chief will have to comply with directives given to Morales
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission is asking acting Chief Michael Brunson Sr. to continue working on the directives it issued to his predecessor before demoting him.
In an Aug. 12 letter addressed to Brunson, Griselda Aldrete, the executive director of the commission, lays out the work yet to be done to fulfill the controversial 18 directives that were issued to former Chief Alfonso Morales in late July.
The letter mostly avoids stern language, does not come with a threat of termination or discipline, and frames the work to be done as an “opportunity to continue our work towards accountability, transparency and the rebuilding of trust.”
“We would like to continue the dialogue, collaboration and information sharing on the outstanding items,” the letter reads.
But there seems to be an expectation of compliance for certain remaining directives, such as Brunson and his command staff responding to all requests from the commission within seven days of receipt. Brunson also is required to attend all commission meetings or provide justification for his absence 24 hours in advance.
The letter outlines that work remains on 10 of the 18 directives. Most of them concern amending or drafting standard operating procedures for practices such as the use of tear gas on protesters and community-oriented policing. Two directives come with a deadline, according to the letter.
The directives regarding providing information about criminal and internal investigations appear to have been fulfilled, according to the letter
Aldrete did not return a request for comment.
The seven-member commission unanimously demoted Morales to captain on Aug. 6, before the deadlines for several of the directives had passed. None of the commissioners said Morales’ demotion was a result of failing to comply with the directives; they instead said he failed the city and was uncooperative with the commission.
There was uncertainty whether the directives would fall to Brunson. One commissioner, Everett Cocroft, said after the Aug. 6 meeting the directives weren’t issued to Brunson, but Aldrete and the other commissioners did not address that question in the weeks afterward.
When sworn in as acting chief Aug. 7 — a ceremony Aldrete participated in — Brunson said he didn’t have any information about whether he was responsible for completing them or not.
Brunson may not even finish the directives himself, depending on how long he remains acting chief. The commission has said it is conducting a national search for a permanent chief, with applications due by Sept. 11.
“We look forward to working cooperatively and productively with the Fire and Police Commission,” Brunson’s Chief of Staff Nick DeSiato said.
The police department has expressed concern about the nature of the directives. The day prior to Morales’ demotion, the department released a 25page rebuttal that accused the commission of breaking its own rules and the law when it issued the directives, which it said contained factual errors, unclear instructions and unreasonable deadlines.
The City Attorney’s Office had been crafting a full legal opinion of the directives’ legality, but stopped doing so after Morales retired, according to Assistant City Attorney Miriam Horwitz.
Although it never finished that opinion, the office did find potential legal issues related to the directive to release information on the police department’s compliance with an ACLU settlement over stop-and-frisk practices, and with directives to publicly provide information on open investigations.