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Board holds four nuisance-property designation appeals for supplemental police witness testimony
Summary
Four appeals challenging nuisance-property designations were held for a future session so police witnesses can appear and explain the incident reports linking individuals to premises. The board requested a police officer to read and explain reports and scheduled follow-up hearing dates.
The Milwaukee Board of Appeals on Feb. 13 decided to hold four pending appeals of nuisance-property designation so the police department can provide witness testimony to clarify whether persons who engaged in the reported incidents were "persons associated with the premises," as defined in the municipal code.
Attorney Dan Conway and counsel for property owners asked that the board rely on the documentary police reports already in the file. Several board members, including the chair, said the commission preferred a sworn police witness to read the documents into the record and answer questions, citing the records evidentiary importance and the likelihood of later appeals. Assistant city counsel and board members agreed to allow city counsel and parties to stipulate to documentary admissibility, but the board voted to reschedule so that a police officer or officers could appear to explain incident narratives and how the department associates named individuals with the premises.
The decision covered appeals for 4937 N. 30th St. and three other addresses (items 24, 25, 26 on the agenda) where police reports recorded two incidents within a 12-month period. The board asked city staff to arrange a supplemental hearing with police witnesses and suggested a special meeting if necessary; commissioners discussed possible meeting dates and set an initial target in mid-April for the supplemental hearing(s).
Board members said they would accept a single police officer testifying about the reports where appropriate, using the business-record exception and a witness to answer follow-up questions, rather than relying solely on uncontextualized written reports.
The board scheduled the supplemental hearings and instructed staff to coordinate with the police department and city attorney for witness availability and to distribute the full reports to commissioners before the next meeting.
