Votes at a glance: Milwaukee FPC approves eligible lists, promotions, SOP updates and job reclassifications

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission voted on a series of personnel and administrative items on June 5, approving eligible lists, promotions, job‑classification changes and department communications while tabling or placing a small number of items on file.

Key outcomes

- Consent agenda adopted: the commission approved items on the consent agenda (meeting minutes and several eligible lists and appointments) by general consent. Items listed on the consent agenda included FPC files addressing the May 1, 2025 meeting minutes and multiple appointments and eligible lists for the Milwaukee Police Department and Department of Emergency Communications (files cited on the record as FPC 201256; FPC 201268; FPC 212057; FPC 212073; FPC 212058; FPC 212074).

- Promotions and eligible lists: the commission approved eligible lists and promotions across departments, mostly by voice vote or roll call. Notable approvals included the Emergency Communications universal call‑taker promotions to Emergency Communications Officer 2 (names recorded in the file), multiple police promotions to captain, lieutenant, sergeant and detective ranks, the promotion of Lieutenant Joseph Flick to fire captain, and several police detective promotions to fill vacancies.

- Department of Emergency Communications (DEC): the commission approved the promotions of several employees to Emergency Communications Officer 2 after the director reported the department is continuing its universal call‑taker (UCT) training; the director said the approved group brings the UCT total to about 39 trained universal call takers in the department.

- MPD standard operating procedure updates (FPC 212061): the commission received a communication from the Milwaukee Police Department summarizing six SOP amendments: SOP 030 (written department directives), SOP 180 (missing persons), SOP 453 (officer‑involved deaths and critical incidents), SOP 570 (public information), SOP 580 (ride‑along program), and SOP 640 (department owned vehicles and property). Department staff said changes include updating organizational titles, clarifying how video footage may be edited before media release, separating a missing child alert from the silver alert process, clarifying seat‑belt requirements for passengers in department vehicles, and aligning critical‑incident investigation practice with Police Executive Research Forum recommendations to run concurrent criminal and officer‑focused administrative investigations with a later agency assessment.

- Job evaluations and reclassifications: the commission approved a new Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative practitioner position for the Fire Department (staff said funding will come from opioid settlement proceeds — described in the meeting as funds from “big pharma lawsuits”), a fire contract administrator title repurposed from a fire captain position related to the negotiated Local 215 contract, and reclassification of three police department city laborer positions to a police facilities laborer title to reflect additional duties. Staff said the pay recommendations for the overdose practitioner are similar to health department social‑worker titles.

- Other personnel actions: the commission approved an extension of one employee’s probationary period (IT support specialist senior) for 90 days to allow additional training; it approved reappointment requests for several former officers with conditions: one request was held for additional information, one (Hunter Tuchel) was reinstated contingent on completion of a medical exam and drug screen, and two others were reinstated after the commission voted to waive the FPC rule requiring reappointment within one year (the waiver passed by the required two‑thirds vote).

Votes and procedure notes

- Many routine eligible lists and personnel items were adopted by voice vote with no recorded opposition. Several promotions and personnel decisions were taken by roll call; the roll calls recorded in the transcript show unanimous ‘aye’ votes among the commissioners present when taken (seven commissioners recorded as voting aye where a roll call was used).

- One promotion matter (a lieutenant promotion discussed under item 22) was placed on file after discussion, meaning the commission did not approve that particular promotion at this meeting; the commission explained placing an item on file does not preclude future reintroduction.

What the commission said

Department staff and commissioners characterized much of the business as housekeeping or routine personnel administration, while noting specific items of interest: DEC leadership described successful UCT training and gave examples of Spanish‑language lifesaving interventions; employee‑relations staff and chiefs explained reclassifications and new job titles were intended to align responsibilities and negotiated contract terms; fire leadership highlighted a candidate’s long service and community nonprofit work in explaining a promotion.

Next steps

Most approved items take effect according to normal personnel and civil‑service processes. The reappointment of Chief Jeffrey Norman was held to the June 26 meeting to allow two community meetings and the commission’s further consideration.