To the Editor,

A Milwaukee police officer shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, 31, on Wednesday.  Apparently Mr. Hamilton has a history of mental illness. 

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn was right to point out after Mr. Hamilton’s death that our city has “an extraordinary serious social health problem.”  That problem is the lack of access to mental health care.  Chief Flynn is not the first to point out this problem.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “Chronic Crisis” series gave ample examples of the problem.

While Chief Flynn has joined the chorus calling for action, the problems with “the system” in no way absolve the Milwaukee Police Department from doing all it can do to make sure that homeless and mentally ill citizens are not killed by its officers. 

As I told the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners on Thursday evening, some problems with relevant police procedures, such as misclassification of calls for service  have already been identified.  Beyond that, the interactions between officers and the homeless and mentally ill often result in nothing good for the citizen.  Many homeless persons receive dozens of citations in a year.

Chief Flynn appears to be shifting the responsibly for his officers’ actions to “the system”.  The Milwaukee Police Department and the Fire and Police Commission have an obligation to do all they can to save lives.  

The ACLU awaits a thorough investigation of this incident to further identify ways to improve the system at the Milwaukee Police Department.

Chris Ahmuty
Executive Director, ACLU of Wisconsin