Police seek OK of civil unrest policy
They want clarity before summer’s 2020 DNC
The Milwaukee Police Department’s policy on dealing with civil unrest, mass demonstrations and large crowds will go before a civilian oversight board this week — five months before the 2020 Democratic National Convention brings an estimated 50,000 delegates, activists, media and tourists to the city.
The policy, known as Standard Operating
Procedure 910, was introduced in 2017 in the wake of unrest in Sherman Park after a fatal police shooting but was never approved by the city’s Fire and Police Commission.
“It got backlogged,” Commission Chairman Steven DeVougas said, blaming a breakdown in communication with then-Police Chief Edward Flynn, the search for his replacement and the turnover in the commission’s executive director position.
Police Chief Alfonso Morales, who took over in February 2018, rescinded the pending policy last July.
“Both best practices and our training had been updated considerably over the past two years,” Sgt. Sheronda Grant, police spokeswoman, said in an email, adding that “the version now before the FPC has been updated to reflect these developments.”
During the convention, thousands of outside officers will come to Milwaukee to help with security and those officers are required to follow “applicable City MPD Policies,” according to a city resolution approved in December.
SOP 910 is likely among those policies because it governs how to handle crowds and mass protests. The Milwaukee Police Department is supposed to give outside agencies relevant policies by April 1, the city resolution says.
‘You don’t want to wing it’
The current policy before the commission appears similar to the one proposed in 2017 and has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates who say parts of it are too broad.
For example, the policy defines civil disturbance as “an unlawful assembly that constitutes a breach of the peace or any assembly of persons where there is potential of imminent danger of collective violence, destruction of property, or other unlawful acts.”
“You might get the impression that any assembly that’s resulting in some breach of the peace triggers all of these pretty aggressive tactics,” said Larry Dupuis, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.
The policy also does not contain any guidance for the length of time to give people to leave an area once police have ordered them to disperse, he said.
During the Sherman Park unrest, “there were people who were told ‘you’ve got to move on’ and then arrested without giving them a chance to move on and that’s not legitimate,” Dupuis said.
Before ordering people to disperse, police leaders are to consider alternatives, such as mediating with event organizers or crowd leaders.
The proposed policy calls for a mobile staging area for holding people who have been arrested, but also says mass arrests should be avoided and the number of arrests limited so officers “are able to recall specific facts for incident reports.”
“In general, you can’t arrest people who just happen to be in a demonstration or protest because some people are committing crimes,” Dupuis said. “You can only arrest those you have probable cause to arrest.”
Although the ACLU of Wisconsin has concerns with the proposal, Dupuis said police departments should have procedures for handling these kinds of events.
“You don’t want to wing it,” he said. “It’s better to have policies than not have policies.”
Policy stems from Sherman Park unrest
In 2016, the Milwaukee Police Department did not have a plan to deal with mass civil unrest — and it showed, according to a draft evaluation of MPD’s response to three nights of violent unrest in the city’s Sherman Park neighborhood.
Although an action plan had been created in 2014 for protests related to the fatal police shooting of Dontre Hamilton, it was viewed as too rigid and was never adapted into a broader policy. That led to a delay in a tactical response two years later when crowds swelled and grew agitated after the police killing of Sylville Smith, according to a draft of the evaluation.
The evaluation was never finalized or published. The Journal Sentinel obtained a copy through an open records request for emails between Flynn and police consultant Robert Wasserman. Flynn had tapped Wasserman, his mentor, to conduct an evaluation with the conservative Bradley Foundation picking up the tab and paying Wasserman an undisclosed amount for the work. The police department took more than a year to fulfill the records request.
The draft evaluation found the department lacked planning and a clear chain of command; had problems communicating with partner law enforcement agencies through the radio system; did not deploy specially trained officers when it should have; was not prepared for a multi-day response and failed to provide enough food, water and relief of officers who faced extended shifts.
The report commended officers’ dedication and restraint during a volatile situation that included arson, gunfire and “general chaos,” citing the relatively low number of arrests (41) and the fact that no officers fired their guns.
The draft evaluation also noted the department had since begun a series of initiatives to improve its response to any future mass demonstrations. At the top of the list: Drafting a new standard operating procedure on civil unrest based on national best practices.
The proposed SOP going before the commission this week outlines the department’s chain of command and requires a written action plan and advance communication with key community leaders, stakeholders, faith leaders and elected officials, if possible.
It requires all uniformed department members to wear badges, nameplates or other identification numbers in a visible location at all times.
In a change from the 2017 proposal, it includes a short “training” section, which states officers should receive “initial and ongoing training on appropriate response to crowd control and management” and undergo “joint training” with partner agencies.
Morales has said his officers have undergone training over the past year specifically for the DNC, which is designated by the Homeland Security secretary as a National Special Security Event. By the time the convention begins on July 13, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will have spent 14 months preparing and planning security for it.
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission’s Policies and Standards Committee will take up SOP 910 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 301-B of City Hall.