Who Will Rein in Milwaukee’s Cops?
In October 2024, Milwaukee Beagle published two articles about the history of law enforcement brutalizing people in Milwaukee, and law enforcement wasting resources that are needed to actually keep us safe. We have also covered the terrible condition of Wisconsin’s prisons, where people attacked by Milwaukee law enforcement end up. Since then, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the Department of Corrections (DOC) have continued to evade responsibility, brutalize people, and expand their powers.
According to Mapping Police Violence law enforcement officers in Milwaukee County have killed five people since October first 2024. Deondre Martin, Isaiah Stott (whose fatal encounter almost certainly would have been prevented if Milwaukee invested in mental health crisis support), Michael Griffin Jr, Anthony Virginia, and one unidentified 72 year old.
This police expansion is beyond deadly. It is massively invasive, technologically terrifying, and being deployed and expanded in the service of Donald Trump in his race toward a dystopian future, as we detailed in Milwaukee Law Enforcement Wants to Hunt Us With Robots.
The stakes could not be higher, but our local politicians refuse to defend us.
Milwaukee Electeds Doing Nothing
The spineless, craven, pathetic people we have elected to office keep expanding law enforcement budgets and reach, even as our society lurches into facism. For years, public testimony at both city and county budget hearings have been dominated by calls to reduce police funding and invest in human needs, but those calls are ignored. The recent appointment by Mayor Johnson of a conservative to the Office of Community Wellness and Safety without community input shows how little our government cares what we think.
Cavalier Johnson is a cop-loving Republican. He not only refused to defend the people he panders to for votes, but consistently chooses police and policing as his highest priority against the will of the people. He helps undo progress Milwaukee community members fought for to win favor with his buddy Robin Vos and Wisconsin’s rural reactionaries to improve his chances in a theoretical future statewide election.
Regarding dystopian technology, the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) recently held a public hearing on facial recognition technology (FRT) and every person who came spoke against it. A wide array of local organizations have signed on to a letter calling for Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS). The city’s Equal Rights Commission unanimously voted against FRT (their resolution is item 17, here).
In response, eleven of fifteen alderpeople wrote a nice letter asking the police to pretty please not use robots to hunt us. Unsurprisingly, MPD Chief Jeffery Norman was not deterred. He waited a few months then said he’s still gonna do it. This needs a goddamn ordinance banning FRT, not a wimpy letter! Even Alex Brower, the alleged socialist who talked (admittedly nonsensically) about police abolition during his campaign, won’t take a firm stand against the encroachment of end times fascism in our city. The four unrepentant bootlicking alders who didn’t sign on to that letter are Andrea M. Pratt, Robert Bauman, Peter Burgelis, and Scott Spiker. If any of the other eleven grew a spine and introduced an ordinance, these four would have to go on the record choosing robots over humanity.
On the county level, there has been no action from the board of supervisors. When MCSO abuses and kills people in the jail, all they do is waste money on a miserably inadequate, unprofessional audit. When asked to rein in County Executive David Crowley’s sheriff budget or otherwise find contingency money for human needs as Trump pulls back federal funding, even the most critical and left leaning supervisors Justin Belinski and Juan Miguel Martinez (another supposed socialist), tell us they can’t touch MCSO’s funding. Ever since Ryan Clancy turned his back on the actual harm reduction work he was doing as a county supervisor to draft messaging bills with no chance of passing in the state assembly, Milwaukee has been left with no defenders against the dystopian appetites of our aggressively racist and harmful law enforcement.
We’ve heard that some alders fear banning FRT, cutting budgets, or imposing any restraints on law enforcement might be prohibited by Act 12. That’s a trash argument. Pre-emptive compliance is the number 1 way to cede power to fascism. The Common Council needs to act on their letter and their supposed convictions. Pass an ordinance, and if the fascists object? Take it to court. Fight back, you cowards.
Also, many of these electeds supported Act 12, despite apparently believing it damns their constituents to an ever expanding Republican techno-police state. They probably did it because Act 12 imposes a regressive sales tax on us, which they used to increase their own pay, and to further expand law enforcement budgets. Perhaps they want to ensure there are plenty of cops protecting them during the coming cyberpunk apocalypse.
Most of these politicians claim to be Democrats, but Democratic Party members wrote a state party platform that tells Democrats in order to, “reimagine our police and justice system… oversight must fight racism, build trust, prevent police brutality, and foster safety and justice for all.” It also calls for “regulation of artificial intelligence in the public interest". Bolstering Donald Trump, Curtis Yarvin, and Steven Miller’s visions of future policing with constantly expanding budgets, FRT, and drones is the complete opposite of what the Democratic Party platform calls for.
All of our elected officials are betraying the party, and humanity itself. This includes David Crowley who thinks he’ll win our votes for governor despite that betrayal. There will be elections for County Board next spring, and for Mayor, County Executive, and Common Council in 2028. We can only hope some people with the decency and foresight to oppose dystopia will step up and run against these lumps.
