Common Council OKs using federal grant to fund hiring of 30 officers

MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Common Council narrowly voted on Tuesday, Jan. 19 to approve using millions of federal grant dollars to fund more than two dozen police officer positions over concerns of the long-term effects the move will have on the city’s pension obligations.

The $9.7 million COPS grant from the Department of Justice will fund the hiring of 30 new police officers. The City will not have to include any matching funds. It was approved by a 9-6 vote, nearly flipping the 6-8 vote the common council made rejecting the resolution last month.

A passionate discussion between council members taking place before the vote, raising concerns about how policing is done in the city, how it needs to be reimagined, and what pension and budget liabilities the city will face in the years ahead.

"We have to find the best people to serve our community. That’s number one. But we also have to continue the way we’ve been doing to work to reform policies to ensure that the way police officers come into the communities and police the communities are completely different from what we’ve been doing over previous generations," said Alderwoman Chantia Lewis, who voted in favor of the grant, adding that current Acting Police Chief Jeffrey Norman is willing and understands the need for reimagining community policing. "No one is saying completely wipe out the police department. I don’t think that is the conversation we are having. We’re saying it needs to be reimagined on how they engage with the community and it starts with what we’re looking at right now."

Budget concerns loom for the city, as its pension obligation in 2023 is projected to be more than $150 million dollars.

"How does this affect our ability to pay for it in three years?" said Alderman Russell Stamper, who voted against the measure, referring to the obligations the city will take on with the COPS grant. "So how is this going to paid for, for $9.7 million now, and then 30 officers in the future?"

"I asked our legislative reference bureau how much we’ve spent on police misconduct cases: $35 million — our system is broken," Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, adding that there is still no long-term plan for the chief position at the department and that there is still not a full number of members on the Fire and Police Commission. "This is not a time where we’re set up to succeed. It’s a time to talk, re-envision, and I’m sorry, I don’t feel comfortable doing that process after we take the money."

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android

The resolution requires the police department to include standards for measuring police staffing and allocations and make a concerted step to work with the community to build and maintain relationships with neighborhoods to identify and solve problems that plague them.

"As far as what happens when this pension payment comes due in 2023, not only how we’re going to continue to fund the police department, but how we’re going to fund basic services in the city of Milwaukee, considering that obligation," said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, who voted in favor of the grant. "We’re going to have to pay for a whole lot more than these officers, and that shortfall is going to create a huge hole in our budget."