Milwaukee committee tweaks ordinance prohibiting law enforcement from staging on county park land without prior authorization

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- After a proposal last week to prohibit federal law enforcement agents from staging in county parks without prior authorization, local officials passed a motion amending the wording Tuesday morning.

Members of the Milwaukee Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services said this is meant to clear up any questions or concerns that arose from the previous discussion.

While the proposal doesn't explicitly name ICE agents, officials did bring up those officers amid growing concerns over a local immigration crackdown.

"We have been hearing, throughout the course of the year, from constituents. Often times folks, early in the morning, will take photos or video of federal law enforcement staging activities that don't appear to be routine," said Jim Tarantino, the deputy director of Milwaukee County Parks.

One of the concerns mentioned was a $100 fine for violating the ordinance, which officials said was too little and now has been raised.

"Upon proof of an unauthorized use, impose upon each responsible party a civil penalty of up to $5,000," said District 15 Supervisor Sky Capriolo.

Another concern was defining staging.

"Staging does not include routine patrol, law enforcement presence or activity within parks and parkways," Sup. Capriolo continued.

After the motion to tweak the proposal's wording passed, District 9 Supervisor Patti Logsdon brought up another concern.

"We, as Milwaukee County, are being told by the federal government that we need to cooperate with what we're doing. I want to make sure, if we pass a resolution like this, are we cooperating?" Sup. Logsdon said.

In response, Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Scott Brown said, "Generally is if there's a federal law that trumps a state law or a state law that trumps this ordinance, that would be the one that applied."

The amended motion then passed with four ayes and one no. The discussion will be moved to the full Milwaukee County Board on Feb. 5.