Public commenter urges Fire and Police Commission to review National Guard use and surveillance technologies in city budget

During the public‑comment period at the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission meeting Sept. 4, Connor Gross Nickel of Leaders Igniting Transformation urged the commission to review police‑union comments advocating bringing the National Guard into Milwaukee and to examine proposed surveillance technologies in the city budget.

Gross Nickel told commissioners that the cost of deploying the National Guard is substantial, saying Guard members “get paid almost twice the amount per day” that city police officers receive, and argued that such spending would strain the budget while increasing the city’s militarized posture. He also asked the commission to review proposed surveillance tools, including facial‑recognition technologies and unmanned aerial surveillance drones proposed for use by first responders, and to provide public information about those measures before they are adopted.

Gross Nickel asked the commission to “review these things with the police chief and come to a consensus of standard of practice” or at least provide public information so residents understand technologies that may be introduced only through the budget or by organizations that study the proposals in depth. The speaker said many citizens would not know what facial‑recognition technology is or how unmanned aerial surveillance systems would be used by first responders.

The public‑comment period concluded with no formal commission action recorded on the items raised by the speaker; the chair closed public comment and the meeting proceeded to the agenda.