Commission to restart police chief search
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission unanimously decided to start over its long-dormant police chief search, but how the new search will be structured was not discussed Tuesday.
Although it will still be some time until a selection is made – the earliest the commission could meet to identify a path toward a new hire is Sept. 2 – no clear roadblocks appear to be in the commission’s way for the first time in about 10 months.
Almost a year to the date that the commission ousted its last permanent chief, Alfonso Morales, by demoting him to captain, the commission now has returned to having its usual seven voting members and no longer has to wait for the city’s litigation with Morales to conclude.
“I hope we can proceed expeditiously because I think getting some certainty into the community on this is very important,” Commissioner Joan Kessler said. “Things have been up in the air for much longer than is probably desirable.”
Tuesday’s decision would also allow Acting Chief Jeffrey Norman to officially re-enter consideration for the job. After applying last fall, he failed to make the cut to three finalists to the surprise of some other city officials.
The commission’s last search had been sidelined since December, when a six-member commission tied on a vote between two finalists. By the time it gained a seventh member, litigation from Morales forced the commission to put things on hold.
In December, a Milwaukee County judge reversed Morales’ ouster and awarded him his job back, saying the city’s process was “fundamentally flawed” and did not give him due process rights. It then took the city and Morales seven months to reach a settlement agreement worth $627,000 that would allow the two sides to formally part ways.
It’s not a surprise the commission chose to start anew for a number of reasons.
Four of the commission’s seven members joined the board after the chief search stalled in December, meaning they were not involved in the selection process or interviews with candidates. Three commissioners have also departed since then, including the former chair and vice chair.
The search that the commission began last fall had been left to fall to tatters. The commission managed to identify two finalists for the job before pausing the search, but one of them has since removed himself from consideration after accepting another job in Maryland.
That lone candidate, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Hoyt Mahaley, a Milwaukee native has never removed himself from consideration, according to Leon Todd, the executive director of the commission.
Lastly, other city officials have called on the commission to allow Norman, the acting chief, a chance to prove his qualifications after he applied for the job last fall but was eventually removed from consideration.
After Morales’ ouster, he was replaced by Acting Chief Michael Brunson Sr., who promoted Norman from the commander of District 3, which covers Milwaukee’s west side, to assistant chief.
The commission interviewed six out of 12 applicants privately. That included Norman, who was the only internal candidate to score an interview. But he did not survive the cut to three finalists, who were given a chance to interview with the public twice.
As the chief search dragged on, Brunson retired and Norman was named acting chief in December.
Since then, he has won over key city officials and community leaders, who have spoken positively about his efforts to build relations with residents.
Mayor Tom Barrett and at least six members of the Common Council have publicly thrown their support behind Norman.
“It is clearly up to the Fire and Police Commission to decide what the process is moving forward, which clearly has been stymied by this negotiation,” Barrett said in July after announcing the city reached a tentative settlement agreement with Morales. “And I certainly am supportive of continuing to have Acting Chief Norman as the chief of the Milwaukee Police Department. He certainly has my support.”