Milwaukee police: “Members Acted Inappropriately” in Tasing Incident With Bucks Rookie Sterling Brown

The Milwaukee police department said officers acted “inappropriately” and were subsequently disciplined for arresting and tasing Milwaukee Bucks rookie Sterling Brown.

Officers encountered Brown at 2:00 a.m. on Jan. 26 while parked across two handicap spaces in a Walgreen’s parking lot.

“The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately, and those members were recently disciplined,” Police Chief Alfonso Morales said in a prepared statement.

The chief took no questions after body cam footage from officers was released, which the department posted on YouTube at the start of the press conference. 

The 30-minute video begins when one officer confronts Brown about parking across handicapped spots. He tells Brown to back up twice, and after Brown asks why, the police officer responds, “Are you obstructing me?”

After several minutes, at least three other police cars appear. Brown is then surrounded and talking with five officers.

One says: “Take your hands out of your pockets now.”

Brown responds, “I’ve got stuff in my hands.”

He’s then taken down and tased. The video appears to show at least seven officers on the scene.

The officer who first encountered Brown continued to be antagonistic after Brown had been tased — and after he realized Brown was a professional athlete.

“Sorry, I don’t follow the Bucks. I didn’t recognize you. I didn’t recognize your famous name,” he said sarcastically.

“No, it ain’t famous. It’s legit,” Brown said.

He added: “You could have talked. You didn’t have to touch. You initiated.”

“Look me up,” Brown says at one point, “Look me up.”

The officer shot back: “I don’t know how to do that. So why don’t you tell me? You been to Mars? You been to Venus? You been to the moon?”

The officer later tells another cop Brown was to blame for what happened.

Shortly after the press conference, Brown released a statement saying, in part, that he planned to pursue legal action against the police department.

“My experience in January with the Milwaukee Police Department was wrong and shouldn’t happen to anybody,” Brown said. “What should have been a simple parking ticket turned into an attempt at police intimidation, followed by the unlawful use of physical force, including being handcuffed and tased, and then unlawfully booked. This experience with the Milwaukee Police Department has forced me to stand up and tell my story so that I can help prevent these injustices from happening in the future.

Brown, after citing examples of police brutality against Dontre Hamilton of Milwaukee, Laquan McDonald of Chicago, Stephon Clark of Sacramento and Eric Garner of New York, blamed racism and “the abuse of power.”

“The common denominator in all of these situations has been racism towards the minority community, the abuse of power, and the lack of accountability for officers involved. The lack of repercussions for the police officers involved in so many of these cases is offensive. This is a slap in the face to the victims’ families and communities.

“Black men shouldn’t have to have their guard up and instantly be on the defensive when seeing a police officer, but it’s our reality and a real problem. There must be mutual respect and both sides have to figure out how to accomplish this.”

The Bucks reiterated their support for Brown in a statement Wednesday but said his isn’t an isolated incident.

“The abuse and intimidation that Sterling experienced at the hands of the Milwaukee Police was shameful and inexcusable,” the team said.

“It shouldn’t require an incident involving a professional athlete to draw attention to the fact that vulnerable people in our communities have experienced similar, and even worse, treatment.”

Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett held a press conference Wednesday night and said, “Mr. Brown deserves an apology, and I am very sorry the Milwaukee police treated him in the fashion that he was treated.

“As the mayor of this city, I need this to be a city, in fact we all need this to be a city, where our residents can work with and respect our police officers,” he said. “We also need this to be a city where our police officers can work with and respect our residents.”

Police officials have been preparing community leaders for the release of the footage by showing it to Mayor Tom Barrett and other selected local officials, including a closed session of a Common Council committee. Bucks officials also reportedly have seen the video in advance.

Barrett has called the video “disturbing.” Council President Ashanti Hamilton, who has seen the video, said the situation “shouldn’t have ended up in the person being tased, handcuffed, arrested and taken to jail.”

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“I don’t want to debate the humanity of my community anymore,” Hamilton said Wednesday.

“I don’t want to debate the humanity of the black males… and then the slightest thing that you can find that they did wrong, and use that as a justification for the actions that’s used against them,” he said. “That can’t be a debate in this country anymore.”

Ald. Milele Coggs said she expects the video to spark potential change in police training and policy so that “situations like what people will see in this video don’t happen again.”

What’s known about the arrest

Brown’s arrest did not result in criminal charges against him and quickly prompted an internal investigation on the police response, including the role of supervisors.

The incident began about 2 a.m. Jan. 26, when officers doing a business check at the Walgreens near West National Avenue and South 26th Street saw a vehicle parked across two handicap spaces, according to Milwaukee police.

In its initial statement, Milwaukee police said officers spoke with a 22-year-old man about the situation and “an electronic control device was deployed” during the encounter.

Brown had been arrested on a possible misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer.

After police officials reviewed the incident, including body camera footage, they decided not to refer him to prosecutors for charges.

Brown was cited for a parking violation, a police spokesman said at the time.

Brown played in a game later that day and had bruises and marks on his face. He told reporters then it was a “personal issue” and declined to discuss it further.

Brown is planning to file a civil rights lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department, attorney Mark Thomsen of Gingras, Cates & Wachs said.

Police chief gives ‘message to community’

As of Tuesday, police officials had not asked the district attorney to consider criminal charges against any police personnel involved in the incident.

Police Department officials remained tight-lipped earlier in the week and did not answer questions about possible discipline police personnel could face, citing the ongoing internal investigation.

But on Tuesday, Morales released a video highlighting the department’s work in the city.