Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm
We were disappointed but not surprised by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s decision not to charge ex-Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney for fatally shooting Dontre Hamilton in a Downtown park eight months ago. With a high-profile case like this one and at a time when people are demonstrating on the streets across the country concerning incidents in other cities of white officers shooting unarmed black men, we felt a fair trial before a jury would be the best way to establish justice in this case and build trust in the community. However, the district attorney, who is a very fair-minded individual, had to make the call and in his interview in the Shepherd last week, he laid out the constraints that led to his decision not to charge.
The Hamilton family can pursue this matter in civil court if they choose, but in Milwaukee there will be no criminal trial; that chapter is closed. However, we should not let this simply end here. There are some systemic problems with the status quo, and this tragic incident could and should be the impetus to push for some positive changes. If we can make concrete progress, then at least some good can come out of this tragedy.
That’s why we’re calling on fair-minded Milwaukeeans to come together to change the system. This is a democracy and when we come together we make some very positive changes, but it won’t be easy.
■ We support the Hamilton family’s request for a federal investigation into Dontre’s death, as well as their call for a thorough review of the Milwaukee Police Department’s patterns and practices. The MPD is full of well-meaning officers who put their lives on the line each and every day. But when incidents occur that leave some segments of the community questioning why justice doesn’t seem to work for them, it damages the fabric of our community and it directly hurts all the dedicated officers who unfairly lose the confidence of the community they serve. This is why we would have preferred to see a trial before a jury so everyone could understand exactly what happened.
■ We support efforts to make MPD more responsive to the community. The appointed Fire and Police Commission (FPC)—not the Milwaukee Common Council—oversees the department. Some members of the council have asked to expand the commission from seven to nine members and are asking the mayor and the community to thoroughly vet the next FPC executive director. In addition, we’ve seen firsthand how horribly the FPC has treated the Hamilton family and their supporters in public meetings. Limiting the free speech of victims of police misconduct is no way to build a better community.
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■ The FPC and the community also need to take a serious look at MPD’s practices and consider adding more body cameras to increase accountability, as Mayor Tom Barrett and others have advocated. We welcome a serious discussion of the MPD’s “broken windows” strategy of addressing small infractions as a way to prevent bigger crimes. There is some rationale for this policing strategy but we’ve also got to ask if it’s being used to harass young black or brown men who aren’t harming anyone, or if that sort of policing strategy influenced Manney’s decision to confront Hamilton in Red Arrow Park almost two hours after two other officers had determined that Hamilton had a right to be in a public space peacefully. Additional diversity training, as Common Council members suggest, is also a good idea.
■ We also need to improve the MPD’s contacts with mentally ill or disadvantaged residents and support Mayor Barrett’s decision to require that all MPD officers undertake mental health training. According to the reports released Monday, Manney realized that Hamilton was suffering from a mental illness. Perhaps if Manney had had better training on dealing with mentally ill individuals, he would have been able to peacefully defuse the tension with Hamilton instead of escalating their conflict to deadly force. After all, Hamilton’s presence in the park was not threatening to anyone—until Manney confronted him.
While we understand Chisholm’s rationale for not charging Manney, we also understand the community’s frustration over seeing another unarmed black man die at the hands of a white officer. We encourage all Milwaukeeans to channel that frustration into peaceful, productive ways to improve our city and give Dontre Hamilton the justice he deserves.
