Black & Latino's Join Forces To Sue Milwaukee PD For Its Racist Stop And Frisk Policies

"If I go out, I gotta be on edge, I gotta be a little anxious because if I roll out as a Black man, there's a good chance that I'm gonna get stopped for doing nothing."—Charles Collins, 67

This quote pretty much sums up what it's like to be Black in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to a lawsuit filed against Milwaukee PD for its stop-and-frisk policy. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed suit on behalf of six Black and Latino plaintiffs who claim police have stopped them at least once since 2010 without cause or a citation.

While the lawsuit alleges that the stop-and-frisk program is citywide, the majority of its efforts have been concentrated in minority neighborhoods—Black ones in particular. And we ALL know the statistics don't lie.

Police data analysis performed by the ACLU found that the number of pedestrian and traffic stops in the city tripled from 66,657 in 2007 to 196,434 in 2015. Between 2010 and 2012, 72 percent of the pedestrian stops were Black people. And 41 percent of those were lacking a probable cause. Reports cited reasons like "suspicious circumstances," "suspicious vehicle," and "suspicious person." In other words, they were breathing while Black. Mind you, Black people only comprise 39 percent of Milwaukee's nearly 600,000 residents.

The ACLU also uncovered a letter from the police union to department supervisors about an alleged quota system which department officials adamantly deny. Police Chief Edward Flynn defended their efforts to concentrate on "high crime areas.""No discussion of our crime tactics is complete without reference to the hyper-victimization of disadvantaged communities of color by high rates of violent crime," Flynn said in an emailed statement. "But MPD considers it our moral duty to confront violence where it occurs." Right.

However, Milwaukee Police Association President Michael Crivello wrote that the two required daily traffic stops were putting officers "in a very difficult situation." Crivello asserted that these alleged quotas served a more sinister purpose. "Basically, stops must be made to preserve employment, rather than facilitate public safety," he said.

A victory over Milwaukee PD and the city could certainly help the movement towards better policing as well as ensuring that citizens' rights under the Fourth (unreasonable search and seizure) and Fourteenth (equal protection) Amendments are protected.

The job of the police department is to protect and serve—and that means everybody. Harassing men, women, and children of color does not fall under that umbrella. Milwaukee Police, you're doing too damned much and it's high time we call you out for what you are: Racists.