In light of three officer-involved deaths that he says have shaken the public's confidence, state Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay) plans to introduce a bill that would end the longstanding practice of allowing police and sheriff's departments to investigate themselves when people die in their custody.
Under the proposed legislation, Wisconsin would set statewide standards requiring outside agencies to participate in those investigations. It also would become the first state in the country to require a comprehensive review by a panel of experts whenever someone dies after a confrontation with police.
Bies said he was motivated by the deaths of Derek Williams, who died after begging for help and gasping for breath in the back of a Milwaukee police squad car in 2011; Paul Heenan, who was intoxicated when he was shot by Madison police last year; and Michael Bell, who was shot by Kenosha police in his driveway in 2004.
Smaller departments often ask the state attorney general's office to investigate deaths involving their officers, said Bies, a former Door County sheriff's deputy. But larger departments tend to rely on their own internal affairs divisions, which can undermine the public's trust in the outcome.
"There are some people who don't feel things are looked at properly," Bies said. "Looking at the way the Michael Bell case was handled gives me some questions."
State Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison), who represents the district where Heenan was shot and killed, said she shares Bies' concerns.
"What I saw in my community when the shooting occurred was a real questioning of the process, and a belief that it wasn't a fair process," she said. "The goal is really to get a more transparent process and to be sure the community has confidence when one of these horrible tragedies occurs, and that law enforcement has confidence in it, too."
Bies' bill, which he plans to begin circulating for co-sponsors Thursday, would standardize the process for determining whether police officers should face criminal charges when someone dies on their watch. In addition, it would require officers involved in a death to submit a blood sample that could later be checked for the presence of alcohol or drugs, if a judge orders it.
The proposal would do away with unilateral decision-making by internal affairs. Instead, each department would set up a three-member investigative team to determine whether a crime occurred. At least two members would have to come from an outside agency. In the case of a fatal crash, the reconstruction expert could not be employed by the agency involved.
At the end of the investigation, the team would present a report to both the local district attorney and to a five-member state review board, appointed by the attorney general and led by one of his assistants. The board also would include a retired or reserve judge; a former sheriff, police chief, or second-in-command; a criminal law or criminal justice professor or researcher; and a former prosecutor.
The review board would have the power to demand additional investigation and to subpoena members of the investigative team for testimony. The board also would have the authority to make recommendations to the district attorney for charges or to the department for internal discipline.
Taylor wants to go a step further, setting statewide standards not only for criminal investigations of police officers, but also for internal investigations to establish whether officers violate department rules.
In the case of Heenan, who was drunk when he went into a neighbor's house by mistake, the officer was not charged or disciplined, although the Madison police chief later tried to have him fired for other reasons. The officer ultimately agreed to leave the department but is seeking duty disability retirement, saying he was traumatized by the shooting.
In Williams' case, officials at the Milwaukee Police Department, the civilian Fire and Police Commission and the Milwaukee County district attorney's office all concluded police did nothing wrong. After a Journal Sentinel investigation prompted the medical examiner's office to change its ruling in the death from natural to homicide, all three reopened their reviews. But the result was the same: No one was disciplined and no one was criminally charged, even though an inquest jury said there was probable cause to charge three officers with misdemeanors.
The officers who killed Bell not only were cleared, they also received a dedicated service award for their handling of the incident from the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. The Kenosha County district attorney at the time, Robert Jambois, said they acted with "courage and distinction." One of the officers involved killed himself six years later, in 2010. His wife told the medical examiner they were having marital problems and he had been stressed in the aftermath of the shooting.
The family of Bell, who was not armed, settled a federal civil rights lawsuit for $1.75 million.
His father, also named Michael Bell, has used much of the money to lobby for reform. His efforts have included posting billboards in communities where civilians have died after altercations with police -- including 47 billboards in Milwaukee after questions were raised about Williams' death.
Changing the system has become a mission that has allowed the elder Bell, a retired Air Force pilot, to see his son's death as a sacrifice for the good of others -- both civilians and officers.
"This is about changing things for the better, for the future," he said. "It's a way for law enforcement to go back and look at these things and say, 'What could we have done differently to not take this life?'"
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen declined to be interviewed, instead issuing statements saying they planned to review the bill and offer input.
David Kaminski, Rusk County sheriff and president of the Badger State Sheriff's Association, said his group is not opposed to the legislation.
"I think we can have a product here that will benefit everybody if it's done the right way," he said. "We want to be sure the officers are being protected and also the victims and their families are protected as well."
Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said the organization has long expressed openness to exploring whether investigations could be improved.
"Certainly having an outside review lends a lot of credibility to the investigative process, certainly in the public's eyes," he said.
Bies will convene a news conference Thursday to unveil the bill and begin a two-week period of seeking co-sponsors. After that, he will ask for a prompt hearing before the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice, of which he is a member.
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