A recent decision to review U.S. Department of Justice policies on reviewing local police departments could delay a report on Milwaukee Police Department practices.
Police Chief Ed Flynn requested a review nearly two years ago after Dontre Hamilton, an unarmed black man, was shot 14 times and killed by officer Christopher Manney in a city park. Manney was fired but did not face any criminal charges.
The DOJ’s collaborative reform program seeks input from police officers and community members.
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Fred Royal, president of the NAACP branch in Milwaukee and founder of the Community Coalition for Quality Policing, said the police department can make positive changes without the results of the review.
“If our political leaders are willing and truly in favor of improving police and community relations, they can direct the chief of police, who works for us, to thoroughly implement problem-oriented policing,” Royal said.
Royal said most police do their job honorably every day, but a few who abuse their power give police a bad rap.
“What these collaborative reviews are doing is giving police departments a way to have leverage and the necessary tools to weed those bad actors out,” he said.
Flynn said in a statement that the department is committed to the collaborative review process and will continue to wait for the results.
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