Milwaukee Police Department Continues to Stop and Frisk Black People At a Higher Rate, Report Finds

Four years into a settlement agreement, the latest monitor report shows that the Milwaukee Police Department continues to engage in racially biased stop-and-frisk practices.

The report found that the Milwaukee Police Department was 4.8 times more likely to stop a Black resident of driving age than a white resident of driving age.

The report also showed that:

• Black residents are 9.3 times more likely to be subjected to a field interview than white residents.
• Black residents are 18 times more likely than white residents to be subjected to a frisk-based police encounter.
• Once a police encounter is initiated, Black residents are 3.1 times more likely to be frisked than white residents.

“MPD agreed to this settlement four years ago, and its practice of making unconstitutional and racially biased stops-and-frisks remains pervasive,” said Emma Shakeshaft, staff attorney researcher at the ACLU of Wisconsin. “As the report demonstrates, MPD’s failure to reach compliance reflects the racially disparate policing that Black Milwaukee residents experience and protest against. The people of Milwaukee still aren’t getting lawful and equitable policing.”

The ACLU asks that anyone who has been stopped on or after January 1, 2020, but not arrested or ticketed by the Milwaukee Police Department to send an email to stopandfrisk@aclu-wi.org.