Porterville Recorder

Ex-milwaukee officers investigat­e fatal police shooting

- By GRETCHEN EHLKE

MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin’s attorney general acknowledg­ed Monday that former Milwaukee police officers, now working for the state Department of Justice, are investigat­ing the fatal shooting of a black man by a Milwaukee officer that triggered two nights of violence.

Attorney General Brad Schimel said he doesn’t see a conflict in using former Milwaukee officers in the investigat­ion into the Aug. 13 shooting of Sylville K. Smith.

Smith, 23, was killed after what Milwaukee police said was a brief foot chase when he ran from a traffic stop. A few hours after Smith’s death, a protest on the city’s largely black north side erupted into violence that reignited the following night in the Sherman Park neighborho­od.

“Milwaukee PD has about 2,000 sworn officers as I understand. The likelihood that there would be some relationsh­ip between a particular patrol officer, who’s going to be much younger than an experience­d detective... is small. And if there is any relationsh­ip at all, that officer, that investigat­or would not be permitted to have any role in the investigat­ion,” Schimel said at a news conference in downtown Milwaukee.

He said the DOJ hires many retired officers to work for the Division of Criminal Investigat­ion in the region that they have previously worked. An agency spokesman later said DCI has about 100 officers statewide; of 18 field agents in the Milwaukee office, eight once worked for the Milwaukee Police Department.

State Rep. David Bowen, who grew up in the Sherman Park neighborho­od, questioned the use of former Milwaukee officers in the investigat­ion and called for Schimel to turn the case over to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“People are crying out for transparen­cy and crying out for accountabi­lity,” said Bowen, who represents a large portion of the city’s north side.

Schimel said his investigat­ors have interviewe­d all “critical witnesses” at least once, but the investigat­ion into the fatal shooting of Smith is not yet complete. His office has been working closely with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who ultimately will decide whether any charges are warranted against the officer who shot Smith, he said.

The attorney general said there are two videos from body cameras worn by two of the three officers who were at the scene of the shooting that show similar vantage points, but that no video or still shots from the video will be released until Chisholm is done with the case.

 ?? PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF ?? This undated file photo shows Sylville K. Smith. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said Monday that the fatal police shooting of Smith on Aug. 13 in Milwaukee that sparked two nights of violence was recorded by two body cameras.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF This undated file photo shows Sylville K. Smith. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said Monday that the fatal police shooting of Smith on Aug. 13 in Milwaukee that sparked two nights of violence was recorded by two body cameras.

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