EXCLUSIVE: Chief Ed Flynn discusses Derek Williams' investigation
MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn sat down with FOX6's Chip Brewster for an exclusive interview Wednesday, September 26th, where he discussed the recently-announced inquest into the death of 22-year-old Derek Williams.
Williams died while in police custody in July of 2011. On Monday, Milwaukee’s District Attorney John Chisholm and Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn announced an inquest into Williams’ death, after an amended Medical Examiner’s report changed Williams’ cause of death from Sickle cell trait to homicide (death at the hands of another).
In July 2011, Milwaukee police say they chased Williams, who was wearing a mask, near Center and Holton. The officers took him into custody and placed him inside their squad car. That’s when police say Williams passed out in the back seat, and was not breathing.
Dashcam video shows Williams apparently struggling to breathe while under arrest for robbery. Not long after this, Williams was pronounced dead. Officers attempted to revive Williams, but were unsuccessful.
Chief Flynn and his department have been under public scrutiny since the Medical Examiner's report was amended and the dashcam video was released.
"There is no margin for error in the public consciousness. (The Medical Examiner) has adjusted the findings to say that this Sickle cell trait, resulting in death, had to have been triggered by some sort of human intervention," Chief Flynn said.
Though the cause of death in this case is now homicide, Chief Flynn told FOX6 News that does not mean someone willfully killed Williams -- just that he would not have died if it weren't for "human intervention."
"As tragic as this death was, the individual involved had just been in a foot pursuit, climbed a fence, lost his shirt, stuck on the fence, hidden from the police, been captured by the police, briefly struggled, and handcuffed. There certainly was a lot of human intervention," Chief Flynn said.
Chief Flynn said he does acknowledge his officers made an error in judgement when responding to Williams' cries for help.
"Doesn't mean we don't take responsibility for not reacting more rapidly to his medical crisis," Chief Flynn said.
Chief Flynn also shot back at press decrying how long the dashcam video was withheld, and that its publishing prompted the investigation.
"This video has been in the hands of competent investigators since the very beginning. It was previously viewed by the family and it was given to the newspaper within three days of the family giving permission for us to give it to them. In May of this year, the newspaper filed an open records request wanting the video. For the next two months, the newspaper and the City Attorney's Office exchanged letters because the key issue was the city and the police department would not issue this dramatic tape without getting a release from the family. The release from the family was presented on September 14th of this year, and they had the video in their hands by September 17th," Chief Flynn said.
Despite all of his efforts, the community's trust in the Milwaukee Police Department seems to have taken a big hit -- something Chief Flynn said they will continue to work on.
"We're committed to transparency and we're committed to in future doing a more effective job," Chief Flynn said.
Four members of Milwaukee's Common Council met with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Chief Flynn Tuesday to discuss this case. They said it was a productive meeting, but they still have questions for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner regarding what information prompted him to change the cause of death in this case.
City leaders also expressed concern over the timeline for the release of the dashcam video.
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