The United States Department of Justice’s draft collaborative reform report on the Milwaukee Police Department is the subject of a communication file introduced today by Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs and Council President Ashanti Hamilton.

Ald. Coggs said the long-running debate over whether the Milwaukee Police Department should release the report and how was made moot by its recent publication by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Common Council and the community now want to turn to the report’s findings, particularly what they say about the Milwaukee Police Department and its relationship to the public, but also whether scarce police resources are being used effectively and for the benefit of all residents, she said.

Representatives of the department as well as the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will be invited to appear at a hearing on the communication, expected to be held at the Steering and Rules Committee meeting, Thursday, September 14, 2017, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Room 301-B, City Hall.

Ald. Coggs praised her colleagues and co-sponsors – President Hamilton as well as Council Members Russell W. Stamper, II; Khalif J. Rainey; Chantia Lewis; José G. Pérez; Cavalier Johnson; and Nik Kovac — for their vigilance in pursuing this report and their commitment to seeing its recommendations implemented, even though the release came months later than they had requested.

“The release of this report to the public is not an end, but a beginning. It is the beginning of a process that I and my colleagues are committed to making open and inclusive,” Ald. Coggs said. She said she expected the committee hearing to be followed by numerous formal and informal meetings with the community to discuss the report.