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Committee authorizes $800 payment after police mistakenly forced entry into landlord’s unit
Summary
The Judiciary & Legislation Committee recommended paying landlord Leonard Grant $800 after Milwaukee police forced entry into the downstairs unit at a duplex responding to a suicide call that investigators later tied to a different address. The committee cited reasonable officer conduct but approved the payment for property damage and boarding.
The Judiciary & Legislation Committee recommended an $800 payment to landlord Leonard Grant for repairs after Milwaukee police forced entry into a downstairs unit during a response to a suicidal person; investigators concluded the person was at a different address.
Police said they were dispatched to the address given by the caller and that upon making contact through the front door and a doorbell camera they obtained information indicating someone inside might be in imminent danger. A supervisor authorized forced entry; officers searched and cleared the property but did not find an individual at that unit. The gun taken into custody and the person ultimately located were at a different address, the police said.
Grant told the committee the upstairs tenant had contacted him fearful of the police presence and that the downstairs tenant was out of town. He said officers damaged the front door, screen and secondary door; he also said the city later boarded the unit and that cost was billed to his property taxes. Police and the city attorney’s office said they believed officers acted reasonably under the circumstances of a possible imminent threat. Still, the committee voted to authorize $800 for repairs and related costs, and the recommendation will be forwarded to the full Common Council on June 24, 2025.
