While mayor and police union back MPD pursuit policy, contract talks still at a stalemate

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Mayor Cavalier Johnson defended the city's current police pursuit policy Thursday, Aug. 7, while also firing back at GOP lawmakers who want him to push police command staff to help patrol understaffed parts of the city.

Johnson also stood by his administration's position in ongoing collective bargaining talks with the union representing the city's rank-and-file police officers.  

Decisions to give chase by Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) officers have drawn increased attention after three fatal crashes since July 14 stemming from pursuits. The most recent ended in a fiery crash near N. 19th. St. and W. Hampton Ave. that killed a 17-year-old driver who was fleeing officers. 

The aftermath, posted to social media by multiple witnesses, was on the minds of people at a back-to-school event Johnson attended Thursday at Wellpoint Care Network on the city's northwest side.

"That was gruesome. It was terrible," Martinez White, who was staffing a table for Fathers Making Progress, said. "I'm used to seeing that in major cities, but to see that, and it's right around the corner from me? It's scary."

Speaking with reporters, Johnson said he saw no reason for MPD to revisit its pursuit policy. Instead, he said the focus should be on why a driver would be so reckless in the first place.

"They make the choice, they make a decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle and treat it like a 2,000-pound missile," Johnson said. "Folks like that should be taken off the street, and they should face the consequences of their actions."

MPD's pursuit policy authorizes chases "only if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect, if allowed to flee, would present a danger to human life or cause serious injury."

MPD officials said Wednesday the 17-year-old driver was driving recklessly, prompting the decision to pursue, and officers also found the car was wanted in connection to a felony.

Alexander Ayala, president of the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA), said the driver was wanted for a previous shots fired incident.

"The question should be, 'Why are you fleeing?'" Ayala said. "So, the question is not 'Why are we chasing?' We're chasing because somebody broke a law, and if you break a law and you are driving recklessly and you're wanted for shooting at somebody, which was the case in this specific case, why not just pull over and face the consequences?"

Members of Fathers Making Progress reflected on various violent incidents that have occurred this summer. Carnell Hogans noted his cousin, popular rapper and promoter Antwan 'OG Tweezy' Hogans, was killed in a downtown shooting last month.

He said the group could only keep working to reach young men before they hurt themselves or others.

"Trying to meet the young men where they're at," Hogans said. "So that we can make sure that's not even a possibility."

A group of 20 Republican lawmakers sent Johnson a letter Wednesday calling for him to push Chief Jeffrey Norman and other MPD command staff to join neighborhood patrols when other officers are moved downtown during high-traffic hours. 

Johnson said Thursday he would not try to dictate deployment strategies to Norman, and he fired back at the legislators, pointing to a 2021 Wisconsin Policy Forum study that found the state ranked 12th in the country for municipal funding for police but 50th for state-level local law enforcement spending.

"If you put all 50 states in a barrel, you'd have to scrape the very bottom of that barrel to see where the state of Wisconsin's investment in local law enforcement is," Johnson said. "As much as I appreciate the things they're saying, I would also like the state to also step up and provide additional funding for law enforcement."

Since then, the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers enacted Act 12 in 2023, which increased state aid to local governments and allowed Milwaukee to implement a 2% sales tax for the purpose of funding police.

Mayor and the police union: Still a frosty relationship

While Johnson and the MPA shared similar thoughts about the police pursuit policy, Ayala maintained they've made no progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement for officers.

"We're not negotiating," he said. "Nothing's moving at the moment."

Ayala said rank-and-file officers were seeking a 12.75% pay increase after not getting a raise in more than two years. Johnson maintained the MPA was an outlier, noting the city recently reached labor agreements with the unions representing police command staff and firefighters.

"I've got three unions we bargain with. Two of them had already been settled months and months ago," Johnson said. "They'd already been done, and so, I wanna get it done with the MPA, as well."

Ayala countered those two unions are both smaller than the MPA, and he added competitive pay should be a bigger priority at City Hall. While Milwaukee spends more on MPD than any other city agency, Ayala noted officers can often times find better pay with less danger working for suburban forces.

"Ask yourself this," Ayala said. "Why is the MPA not good enough to get a raise for the officers that are sticking their hands in the literal fire to try to save a person they were just chasing?"

Ayala said one officer responding to Wednesday's crash suffered third-degree burns on his hands trying to pull away the driver, while another was treated for smoke inhalation.

Johnson and a release from the mayor's office said he'll hold an event Friday with police and business leaders to discuss new steps aimed at preventing late night downtown disorder.