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MPD tells commission it clarified domestic‑violence SOP, defined wellness roles and added drone operations to SOI
Summary
Assistant Chief Sarno told the commission the domestic‑violence SOP was rewritten to clarify victims' ability to opt out under Marcy's Law, the wellness team and peer‑support roles were defined, and the airborne assessment SOI adds drone first‑responder operations; commissioners asked for clearer SOI examples and a public dashboard demonstration.
Assistant Chief Sarno told the Fire and Police Commission on Dec. 4 that the Milwaukee Police Department has updated three policies and standard operating instructions.
On SOP 114 (domestic violence), Sarno said the language was rewritten to clarify the text concerns a victim receiving services — not the release of crime details — and to make clear the victim must opt out themselves for information not to be shared in the context of Marcy's Law. "The section related to the release of the victim's information to the DV hotline was updated. To better clarify, the section is not about the release of the victim's information but rather about the victim receiving services," he said.
Sarno also clarified the wellness‑team structure: two wellness team coordinators (both police officers, one a canine handler) will oversee a larger peer‑support pool of roughly 25 sworn and civilian members who have received peer‑support training. He said peer‑support members do not carry the same confidentiality protections as coordinators or chaplains.
On airborne assessment and unmanned aircraft systems, Inspector Feldmeier described two operational models: a centrally operated "drone as first responder" system launched from a fixed operations center by an operator, and patrol‑deployed drones carried by officers in the field. Feldmeier said the first‑responder model can be launched rapidly to incidents such as shots‑fired or detected gunfire; patrol drones are taken from vehicles for short‑range tasks such as following a fleeing subject.
Several commissioners pressed for clearer, enumerated examples of permitted uses in the SOI and recommended MPD include more specific guidance rather than broad, catch‑all language such as "support of department operations." Commissioner Fung and others asked MPD to return in Q1 2026 with a demonstration of the department dashboard showing where and why drones have been deployed to improve transparency; MPD agreed to return with additional material.
What this means: The domestic‑violence SOP wording is intended to avoid suggesting officers must obtain authorization for victims to receive advocacy services; the wellness‑team clarifications distinguish coordinators from peer supporters; and the AAT SOI formalizes both centralized and patrol drone usage while prompting calls from commissioners for additional specificity and community transparency.
