By Dylan Deprey
On the heels of the August 2017 leaked Department of Justice (DOJ) draft report, that solidified many of the communities longstanding issues with Milwaukee Police Department and the Fire and Police Commission, the Community Collaborative Committee (CCC) has been hard at work out in the community talking to people about it.
The CCC’s task was to develop recommendations and solutions to propose to the Common Council, which were based on Community Hubs and an online feedback portal. Nearly 20 local non-profits and organizations came together to create spaces for the community to share their thoughts and concerns on policing and issues with the U.S DOJ draft report.
After hosting 14 Community Hubs across the City of Milwaukee, Markasa Tucker, CCC Chair, and many of the CCC organizations, held a press conference update at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society on July 19.
“With recent incidents with MPD and the video released from the Sterling Brown arrest, we were reminded of how extremely important and relevant our responsibility is to ensure this process continues, and that ultimately policy in MPD and the Fire and Police Commission reflect feedback we have received,” Tucker said.
She said the Community Hubs had reached out to a variety of different people across the City, which included Black, Latino, Hmong, refugee, young adults and youth. MPD also had a space to share their feedback on the findings, as they hosted an event and participated in three others.
Along with the Community Hubs, there were around 50 entries in the now closed FPC Community Feedback Portal.
“We want to make sure that the communities’ voice is at the forefront of this process,” Tucker said.
Fred Royal, Milwaukee NAACP President, said that along with proving the NAACP’s response to the Draft Report, the CCC has asked the Milwaukee Police Association and Mark Wroblewski, Milwaukee Police Supervisor’s Organization treasurer, to also contribute feedback.
He noted that after the past eight years, MPD misconduct has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars, along with the trust and respect for those meant to “Serve and Protect.”
“This has a large impact on all of our lives, and we want to get as much input as possible, so everybody gets a chance to improve community and police relations,” Royal said.
Tammy Rivera, Southside Connection executive director, gave a timeline for the next steps in the process. She said the CCC has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to reach out to community consultants, non-profits and academic and research universities to submit a proposal to work with and thoroughly analyze the feedback received during Community Hubs and Community Feedback Portal.
“We can look at the most frequent responses, priorities and recommendations we have to the response from the FPC submitted, hopefully MPD submitted, and be able to make a recommendation,” Rivera said.
She stated that the CCC would be taking applications until August 1st, 2018, and interviews would start soon after. She added that the CCC would have their recommendation for the Common Council by the end of September.
“Finally, we can move to what is a really historic time in our city,” Rivera said. “Having the community and other bodies come together to strengthen our law enforcement.”
For more information visit the http://city.milwaukee.gov/mkecr
