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MPD updates SOPs on homeless contacts, crashes and evidence vehicle processing; commissioners ask about enforcement and record-keeping
Summary
The Milwaukee Police Department provided the Fire and Police Commission with amendments to three policies: homeless persons, vehicle crashes, and an evidence vehicle processing instruction. Assistant Chief Craig Sarno outlined administrative updates and said the changes do not alter operational practice on sleeping in public.
The Milwaukee Police Department presented amendments April 3 to three documents: SOP 165 on homeless persons, SOP 650 on vehicle crashes, and a standard operating instruction for evidence vehicle processing. Assistant Chief Craig Sarno described the changes as largely administrative and intended to align written policy with current practice.
Sarno said the homeless-persons SOP was updated to remove references to the "technical communications division," which is now the Department of Emergency Communications, and to remove a line directing that homeless outreach team officers be dispatched for calls involving known or suspected homeless persons because the department cannot dictate policy for a separate communications division. He also said the department updated its reference from the Wisconsin ServicePoint system to the state's Homeless Management Information System and corrected an address for the community resource and referral center.
On the court precedent referenced in the prior directory, Sarno told the commission the previous SOP included language citing Bell v. City of Boise about sleeping as a life-sustaining activity but that the reference was removed because that decision had been superseded by a later court decision (name not specified in the communication). Sarno stated that the department does not intend to change operational practice or begin arresting people simply for sleeping in public; he said MPD will continue to use referrals and system partners and that trained outreach officers remain available.
The department also updated crash-reporting procedures to reflect renaming of the communications division, revised call-up procedures for the crash reconstruction unit, and changed internal timing requirements so squad accident reports are filed in the AIM platform consistent with current practice. For evidence vehicle processing, Sarno said four divisions participated in rewriting the instruction: homicide, specialized patrol, forensics, and property control. A commissioner asked whether a sentence in the burned-vehicle storage section appeared to be missing words; Sarno said he did not believe anything was missing and that captains and managers from involved divisions had reviewed the policy.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about whether the removal of the Bell reference indicated any policy shift toward arresting people who are sleeping in public. Sarno replied: "No. I don't believe there's going to be any change in the way we go about doing business." A commissioner referencing Milwaukee's history and Dontre Hamilton said they appreciated the reaffirmation that MPD did not intend to change enforcement practice.
Because the file was submitted as a communication, no formal action was required of the commission.
