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Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission holds pursuit-policy recommendation after emotional public testimony
Summary
After repeated public pleas for stricter limits and faster release of pursuit footage, the Fire and Police Commission voted to hold its recommendation on MPD’s amended vehicle-pursuit policy (SOP 6‑60) to allow more time for community input and coordination with related SOPs.
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission on April 2 delayed sending its recommended changes to the Milwaukee Police Department’s vehicle‑pursuit policy to the Common Council after more than an hour of public testimony demanding stricter limits on high‑speed chases and faster public release of pursuit footage.
Commissioner Ramey opened the meeting and, following public comment from multiple members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and family members of pursuit victims, the commission debated whether to recommend adoption of a modification to SOP 6‑60 as written. Speakers at the meeting described fatal and life‑changing injuries linked to chases and urged removal of language that allows pursuit when a person “is about to commit a violent felony.”
"These chases need to be called what they are, critical incidents," Michelle Hilbert said, urging adherence to SOP 5‑75’s disclosure practices and continuous public reporting of pursuit data. Gladil Higgins, whose son she said was killed after a 2024 chase, said: "My son is gone. He'll never come back." Tiffany Stark asked the commission when MPD would update pursuit fatality counts and called for a dashboard updated every six months.
Assistant Chief Craig Serna responded that the department discussed committee concerns with Chief Norman, and that Wisconsin statute 165.84 (sub. 7) defines violent crimes; he said the department would not add a list of felonies to the SOP but would provide six‑month data and planned technology and training changes to reduce risk, including StarChase and HOS Mobile deployments. "When I present data for the six‑month set in June, I intend to break down all the felonies for this year," Serna said.
Commissioners emphasized competing priorities: several urged urgency to prevent further harm, while others said they preferred to take more time to craft language and related SOP changes so that a recommendation to the Common Council would be clear and enforceable. The commission ultimately approved a motion to "hold this item to the call of the chair," meaning the proposed SOP 6‑60 modification will not move forward at this meeting and will return for further deliberation.
The hold leaves unresolved whether fatal or serious‑injury pursuits will be expressly included within SOP 5‑75’s video‑release language, and whether the phrase "is about to commit a violent felony" will be narrowed or removed. Assistant Chief Serna and commissioners said MPD will present more detailed pursuit statistics in June and that further revisions could be coordinated with related SOPs.
The commission’s next procedural step is to reconvene discussion on the item at the chair’s direction; no vote was taken to approve the SOP change or to send it to the Common Council.
