Cohort 2024
Milwaukee Turners
Improving Accountability by Documenting Fire and Police Commission Meetings
Milwaukee, WI
The Milwaukee Police Department has a long history of implementing racially discriminatory practices, from stop and frisk to arrests and sentencing. Less than 40 percent of Milwaukee residents are Black, but Black residents are 18 percent more likely to be subject to stop and frisk and make up 70 percent of arrests (PDF). Milwaukee Turners works to address these racial and ethnic disparities by creating mechanisms to hold the police department accountable, including the City of Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission, which exercises oversight of department policies, providing supervision and decision authority over the budget.
With Catalyst Grant funding, Milwaukee Turners will attend Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission meetings to examine issues pertaining to race, arrests and stops, and changes to police department standard operating procedures. In partnership with staff and students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee Turners will develop an app for observers to collect real-time meeting notes and data. Analysis of these data will be shared with community organizations working toward police accountability, oversight, and racial equity. Findings will also be integrated into workshops held in disproportionately impacted neighborhoods. Milwaukee Turners will harness data as a critical accountability mechanism towards equitable policing in Milwaukee.
