Members of SEIU and Voces de la Frontera arrive at the Capitol Tuesday | Wisconsin Examiner photo

Online rumors warning of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) patrols around polling places in Milwaukee and Madison appear to be unfounded. The reports circulated on social media claiming that there would be “more than 5,000 ICE agents patrolling the areas” in the two cities, as voters went to the polls to cast ballots in the April 1 election for candidates running for  Wisconsin Supreme Court, state superintendent, and referendum questions focusing on voter ID. 

Anxieties about ICE activities have been heightened under the Trump Administration. Recent weeks have seen videos showing plain-clothes, masked ICE agents detaining people on the street. Some of the detainees had been arrested after participating in activist activities, such as protests calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Fears of ICE raids have increased  in Milwaukee and Madison, as in other cities. 

Spokespersons for Milwaukee and Madison city government told Wisconsin Examiner that they have not heard any reports, complaints, or notifications about ICE agents at polling places. A spokesperson for the ICE office in Milwaukee said, “due to our operational tempo and the increased interest in our agency, we are not able to research and respond to rumors or specifics of routine daily operations for ICE.”

Meanwhile, turnout in Milwaukee has been so high that local news outlets are reporting that polling sites across the city have run out of ballots. The city’s Election’s Commission is arranging for fresh ballots to be sent to polling stations. In Tuesday’s election Republican-backed Supreme Court candidate and former Wisconsin attorney general Brad Schimel is facing off  against Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, who has the backing of state Democrats. In the  state superintendent’s race, incumbent Jill Underly is facing challenger Brittany y Kinser. Wisconsinites will also get to decide whether the state’s constitution should be amended to codify a voter ID requirement.

The Wauwatosa Police Department (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Since 2022, the Wauwatosa Police Department (WPD) has operated under new, very specific guidelines on how intelligence is collected and shared. Developing a policy involved reflection, clarification and modernization for the police department. Prior to its creation, a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to Wisconsin Examiner, no formal intelligence gathering policy existed at Tosa PD. 

By establishing clear standards, WPD aims to “bring about an equitable balance between the civil rights and liberties of citizens and the needs of law enforcement to collect and disseminate Criminal Intelligence on the conduct of persons and groups who may be planning, engaged in, or about to be engaged in criminal activity,” the policy states. Versions of the policy, as well as emails detailing its creation, were obtained by Wisconsin Examiner through open records requests.

The eight-page policy defines the difference between “information” and “criminal intelligence,” outlines appropriate channels for sharing that information, and establishes clear boundaries protecting individuals and groups. “Information” is defined as “raw unprocessed data that is unverified and unevaluated,” and only becomes “intelligence” once it’s been “systematically planned, collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor potential criminal activity for public safety purposes,” according to the policy. 

It stresses that such efforts must meet the threshold of “reasonable suspicion,” where a sworn law enforcement officer or investigator believes there is a “reasonable possibility” that a person or group is involved in “a definable criminal activity or enterprise.” Individuals or groups which become the focus of WPD’s intel-gathering activities must be those suspected of being involved in the planning, financing or organization of criminal acts, those suspected of being involved in criminal acts with “known or suspected crime figures,” or be the victims of those acts. 

The policy highlights that intelligence may not be gathered on individuals or groups based solely on:

• An individual or group’s support of “unpopular causes”
• Any membership of a protected class including race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disabilities, veteran status, genetic information or citizenship
• Political affiliations
• “Non-criminal personal habits” 

Any information gathered from confidential sources or electronic surveillance devices “shall be performed in a legally acceptable manner and in accordance with procedures,” the policy states. The policy also requires periodic review of intelligence by appropriate WPD staff to ensure the information is accurate, current, and remains relevant to the department’s goals. If it’s not, the policy states, the information should be purged. 

Lessons learned, and a new day

The intelligence policy was created with input from several key personnel within WPD including Lt. Joseph Roy, crime analyst Dominick Ratkowski, and Capt. Shane Wrucke. WPD Chief James MacGillis — who was formerly a Milwaukee PD drug intelligence and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) officer — also had input in crafting the policy.

A WPD spokesperson wrote in an email statement that the city’s Police and Fire Commission, which oversees appointments, promotions and discipline of police and fire personnel, was not involved in establishing the policy. In April 2024, Ratkowski shared a final draft of the policy with Robert Bechtold, from the Madison Police Department. “Thanks for the SOP [Standard Operating Procedure],” emailed Bechtold, who was apparently looking for guidance on how to create such a policy. “I’m not looking forward to us building one,” he added. The Madison Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Roy, Ratkowski, and Wrucke all have ties to WPD’s investigative division. Roy supervised the division’s dayshift and also serves as commander of the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), which focuses on officer-involved shootings and deaths. Ratkowski has worked at WPD since 2018, and was hired as the department’s first ever civilian crime analyst. Wrucke, like Roy, has past ties to both MAIT and WPD’s Special Operations Group (SOG), which focuses on covert surveillance, accessing phones, and drug investigations.

A WPD spokesperson explained in an email statement that the intel policy was created “to incorporate lessons learned, enhance transparency, and provide clear guidelines for intelligence gathering.” Those lessons likely stemmed from the protests of 2020, and the decisions made by investigators when WPD was still headed by former Chief Barry Weber. 

Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, marches against police abuse began in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, where a former police officer had killed three people over a five-year period. Wauwatosa experienced months of daily non-violent protests which occasionally ended in standoffs with officers. In October 2020, Wauwatosa declared a curfew after the district attorney’s office announced that officer Joseph Mensah wouldn’t be charged in his third fatal shooting. Protesters were confronted by riot police, the National Guard and militarized federal law enforcement during the curfew. 

Journalists, protesters and lawyers later learned that WPD had created a list of nearly 200 people during the summer of protest. Ratkowski had called it a “target list” in an email to assisting agencies. WPD publicly stated that the list — which included dozens of protesters, members of the Cole family, their attorneys, elected officials, and the author of this story — included  witnesses, victims and  suspects in possible crimes that occurred at the protests. 

Civil lawsuits revealed more about use of the list under Weber, who retired in 2021. Ratkowski in depositions explained that he began creating the list around June 2020, after Capt. Luke Vetter asked him to begin identifying active participants in the protests. Ratkowski gathered information from confidential law enforcement databases with access to drivers license information, home addresses, arrest records, and more. He combed social media accounts on Facebook and Tinder, sometimes using fake Facebook accounts registered as “confidential informants.”

Simply being tagged in a protest-related social media post could get someone on the list, Ratkowski said in a deposition. He agreed with attorneys when asked whether “mere affiliation with a protest” was enough, and confirmed that threatening violence or committing a crime was not required. Ratkowski said that if a superior asked him to make a list of every member of the Socialist Party he would, “because I would assume that he [Capt. Vetter] would have asked me to do something that wasn’t useless.” The attorney questioning Ratkowski responded, “I’m not asking whether it’s useful or useless, I’m asking whether it’s constitutional or not,” to which Ratkowski replied, “I can’t make that determination.” 

The federal lawsuit eventually went to trial, where a jury ruled that WPD had not violated specific privacy laws related to obtaining and sharing drivers license information. 

In an emailed statement, WPD said that “a key objective” of the new intelligence policy “was to clearly define the distinction between information and intelligence, ensuring officers understand when data becomes actionable. It applies to all WPD staff involved in intelligence creation and upholds protections against intelligence gathering based on legally protected characteristics.” The department added that, “though journalists are not explicitly mentioned, the department remains committed to safeguarding First Amendment rights for all individuals. Above all, the Wauwatosa Police Department prioritizes transparency and strengthening trust within the community.” 

Attorneys Nate Cade (far left) and Kimberley Motley (center) stand with the mother of Alvin Cole, Tracy (far right), and other members of Cole's family. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

A civil trial in Milwaukee’s federal courthouse over the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole by former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah ended in a hung jury on Thursday. After four days of hearing testimony and evidence, the eight-member jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision about whether Mensah used excessive and unreasonable force when he shot Cole on Feb. 2, 2020. 

A new trial has been set for September of this year, with pretrial preparations expected in August. The day began with closing arguments from attorney Nate Cade, who told the mostly white jury of seven women and one man to “remember who’s involved.” Cade showed a picture of Cole to the jury, saying, “He’s a kid, just a kid.”

Cade recounted the four days of testimony, starting with Cole’s father, Albert, who said he will be haunted by the memory of dropping off his son, the last time he saw him, “for the rest of his life.” Cade pointed to conflicting testimony about the shooting among the police officers who were there, and emphasized the testimony of David Shamsi, a combat veteran and FBI agent, who said Cole did not move or point a gun at Mensah before he fired.  

Another officer, Jeffrey Johnson, also testified that he did not see a weapon pointed at Mensah at the time of the shooting, and that Cole was on his hands and knees. Cade said that if Mensah had “paused a moment, Alvin Cole would still be alive.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys also reminded the jury that after the shooting, Evan Olson, Mensah’s friend on the force, went off with Mensah in a squad car where they had an unrecorded conversation, in violation of polices stating officers should be kept separate after a shooting to avoid statement contamination. 

Cade stressed to the jury that in order for Mensah to be right, “everybody else has to be wrong,” and that Mensah had never apologized on the stand for the shooting.

Attorney Joseph Wirth, representing Mensah, said that night consisted of split second decisions. “Alvin Cole made catastrophically bad decisions,” said Wirth, arguing that Cole brought a gun to the mall, got into a fight, fled from and fired upon police, and then tried to fire again before Mensah killed him. “You can’t bring 20-20 hindsight,” said Wirth, urging the jurors to put themselves in Mensah’s shoes that night. Wirth refuted plaintiffs’ attorneys who said Mensah was bored in his own sector, and wanted some action. Wirth stressed that when an officer perceives danger, he has a duty to act and “it is not necessary [to prove] if this danger actually existed.” 

Wirth argued that Shamsi, who said the gun didn’t move at all, was still prepared to shoot Cole, and that the teen never stopped running, or indicated he wanted to surrender. 

Wirth also said that Cole pointed a gun both at Mensah and Olson, suggesting that the two officers are not contradicting each other. Plaintiffs’ attorneys asked for $22 million in damages, which Wirth called outrageous. 

The jury went into deliberations shortly after noon, and returned around 4:30 p.m. saying they were  unable to come to a decision. They were told by the judge to go back into deliberations until 5 p.m. When they were called back, they had still been unable to reach a unanimous decision. Judge Lynn Adelman said one main issue was the quality of squad car videos. The jury was excused, and a new trial was set for Sept. 8, at 9 a.m.

The day ends with armed marshals, and words from the family 

At the end of the day as the jury returned, at least five U.S. marshals, several of them armed, entered the court room. The arrival of the armed marshals caused a stir  in the courtroom from the gallery to the plaintiffs’ bench and attracted the attention of  Judge Adelman himself. “I don’t want marshals here,” Adelman said. It’s unclear why the marshals were there, but attorney Cade told media and the judge that it was inappropriate, and could send the wrong message to a jury. “People get screened coming into this courthouse,” said Cade. “The family has not shown out…They have not done anything dangerous, they have not made any threats.” 

Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother, said she was satisfied with the presentation of her family’s case. “I can’t complain,” she said, “they showed the evidence, everything on the table. We ain’t gave up, we’re not going to give up.” Undiscouraged by the hung jury she said, “it just make us fight more.” Cole did say that she was hurt when she wasn’t allowed to testify during the trial. “I thought that if I would’ve spoke on it, I thought it will let some of the relief off of me, but now it haven’t because I still have that pain inside,” said Cole. “It hurts, but I’m dealing with it.”

Detective Joseph Mensah (right) testifies before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety earlier this year. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

The third day of the federal civil trial into the death of 17-year-old Alvin Cole featured testimony from Joseph Mensah, the officer who fatally shot Cole in 2020. Now a detective for the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, Mensah was an  officer in the  Wauwatosa Police Department for five years, during which time he  killed Cole after a foot pursuit. 

Mensah testified about the shooting on Feb  2, 2020, at the Mayfair Mall, where he responded to a call about a disturbance involving a gun. Mensah visited the mall twice, leaving the area he was assigned to patrol to investigate the disturbance and then returning a second time when he heard on his radio that there was a foot chase underway. He arrived both times in an unmarked squad car and did not announce his presence on the police radio, something his colleagues described as a best practice but which he testified was unnecessary.

Mensah disagreed with the testimony of Wauwatosa officer David Shamsi, who testified that he was closest to Cole when he was shot, and that Cole was on the ground and had not moved when Mensah fired. Mensah said Shamsi was mistaken. The contradictory statements between Shamsi, Mensah (who claimed Cole turned to aim a gun at Mensah, either over or under his own shoulder) and other officers on scene including Evan Olson (who said Cole pointed the gun in a completely different direction from Mensah) created the issue that opened the door to this week’s jury trial in Milwaukee’s federal courthouse.

While Shamsi holds the rank of major in the U.S. military and is now an FBI agent, Mensah asserted that he was a new officer at the time of the shooting. Mensah said that since he had five years of experience at Wauwatosa and was SWAT trained, he had more extensive and relevant tactical knowledge and experience than Shamsi. In his deposition, referenced on the stand, Mensah said that besides Olson, none of the officers on scene during the Cole shooting — including Shamsi — had the level of training and experience that he had. Shamsi’s military combat experience “doesn’t mean anything,” he testified, “especially in a situation like this.” 

On the stand, Mensah described how he arrived at the Mayfair Mall on Feb. 2, 2020, and helped officers and mall security chase the fleeing teenagers. As they ran, a single gunshot went off — later determined to be fired by Cole and resulting in a self-inflicted gunshot wound which broke bones in Cole’s arm. When Mensah heard the shot, he pulled out his own weapon. Mensah said at that point he couldn’t recall how far he was from Cole, despite having replayed the shooting in his head repeatedly and viewed video and other reports from the shooting over the last five years. Mensah said that when the first shot went off, he didn’t see a muzzle or knew who fired. Cole fell to the ground and then 10 seconds later Mensah fired five shots. Later, he said Cole had pointed his gun in Mensah’s direction. 

Mensah said that the entire situation was “very fluid” and quick, and repeatedly said “I don’t remember” or “I don’t recall” throughout questioning from the Cole family’s  attorneys. Attorney Nate Cade referred to Mensah’s deposition testimony in 2023, in which he said he saw Cole fall to his hands and knees, and then crawl a short distance towards a concrete construction barrier in the Cheesecake Factory restaurant parking lot. Mensah said on the stand that although Cole turned towards him, he didn’t know if would  use the term “tucked” to describe his posture, as his colleague officer Olson did in testimony Tuesday. When asked if Cole reached under or over his shoulder, as he had previously testified, on the stand Mensah said, “I don’t recall.” 

Mensah testified that he only “vaguely” recalls his interview with detectives who investigated Cole’s shooting as part of the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT). During his deposition, Mensah said that he saw a flash of light as he chased Cole, which he acknowledged could have been flashlights from officers and mall security. During his initial interview with detectives after the shooting in 2020, Mensah said he had not seen any muzzle flash, and on the stand Wednesday he said he couldn’t account for what MAIT detectives did or did not put in their report. Mensah said that once Cole was on the ground, he paused to assess his surroundings before he fired. When he saw a gun in Cole’s hand and felt it was being pointed at him, Mensah said he began to “prepare” his body to be shot, acquired his “target,” which was Cole, and then fired.

While questioning Mensah, Cade noted that several things that Mensah said he yelled to officers such as “the gun is out” — meaning he sees a firearm — are not in the police investigative report, nor does MAIT’s report mention that Mensah yelled “drop the gun” at Cole, as Mensah said he had done. Mensah said that the situation was “incredibly traumatic” to him and that when it comes to what he does and does not remember, “the brain works in mysterious ways.” 

Video and audio from Olson’s squad car captured after the shooting, played during the trial, captured someone yelling curse words, and then saying, “I can’t believe I just shot somebody.” Mensah said he could hear the curse words and acknowledged that it was him, but said that he couldn’t understand the words after that. Still, he argued that the recording did not show him saying what attorneys claimed, and that it was “random” radio chatter from other people. Cade argued that if it was Mensah saying those words, that suggests that he did not intend to shoot Cole, which he said showed that it was an instance of excessive use of force. The Cole family’s lawyers also highlighted Mensah’s statement after the shooting that “I was overwhelmed with emotions,” suggesting it showed that he had lost control. Mensah said some of his microphone equipment may have been malfunctioning, distorting the record of what he said at the time, but acknowledged that he was “amped up.” 

Cole family attorneys also brought up that Olson and Mensah had not separated themselves that night, which is required by MAIT protocols and is done to avoid contamination of statements. Mensah denied that he and Olson actually discussed anything about the shooting, and both officers said on the stand that they were friends then and remain friends today outside of work. When attorney Jasmyne Baynard, representing Mensah, questioned the officer, he said he grew up in the Wauwatosa area, and that he became an officer after seeing a friend get in trouble, and that he wanted to help people “truly in need.” He graduated from the police academy in 2012, and was hired by Wauwatosa in 2015, though he’d been an unarmed reserve officer since 2009. 

Answering questions about his actions on the night of Feb 2, 2020, Mensah said that police officers are not required to stay in their patrol sector, and that he went back to the mall after the foot pursuit was called out, because such pursuits can be unpredictable and dangerous. When he approached Cole on the ground, Mensah said he didn’t know the teen was hurt or that he’d shot himself. 

Mensah said that Cole didn’t do a “drastic turn around” to aim his gun, and that the motion he saw was “over the shoulder,” which contradicted his prior testimony. Mensah said that he couldn’t second-guess himself in the heat of the moment. “I don’t get that luxury in the fraction of a fraction of a second,” he said. 

“I’m not focusing on the gun anymore,” Mensah said, describing the moment as he prepared to fire. Instead, he said, he was focused on stopping a threat, and that he kept firing his weapon until he felt the threat was stopped. Mensah said he did not see a gun pointed at Olson, which Olson told MAIT in 2020 and testified to during the trial. During questioning, Mensah became emotional, and said, “I didn’t want to do it.” 

On the stand, Mensah was asked whether he felt either Shamsi (who didn’t see the gun or Cole move at all and was closest to Cole) or Olson (who was further away and said the gun was pointed at him, which would mean away from Mensah) were liars. Mensah said that he believes Shamsi was “mistaken” and then suggested the same about his friend Olson. Mensah said that he does not believe that he could have been wrong when he killed Cole. 

Once Mensah’s testimony concluded, Milwaukee police detective Lori Rom was called to the stand. Rom was one of the MAIT investigators initially assigned to interview officers involved in Cole’s death. Rom said that her department typically does not record officer interviews after shootings, and that had Mensah told them things like calling out that he saw the gun, or if he saw a muzzle flash, that it would have been documented as important information. Attorney Joseph Wirth, representing Mensah, noted that MAIT statements are not court statements made under oath. 

Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother, was expected to testify, but this was not allowed after a chamber conversation between the judge and attorneys. Mensah’s defense attorneys called Sarah Hopkins, a civilian witness to the shooting to the stand next. Hopkins said she was outside the Cheesecake Factory when she saw the chase and shooting. Hopkins said she never saw Cole surrender or throw his hands up, but instead that he stopped running and turned towards officers in a shooter’s stance she recognized from taking concealed carry classes — something none of the other witnesses,  including Mensah,  said had happened. She’d initially claimed to be about 40 feet from the shooting, but later questioning determined that it had to have been at least 200 feet. Cole family attorney Cade highlighted that “we’re now in day three of trial” without anyone else having claimed to have seen what Hopkins said she saw. 

A mall security guard was also called to the stand, who helped chase after Cole and his friends. The guard said he heard a shot, saw a flash of light, and dropped to the ground. Like other witnesses, the guard said that Cole was on his hands and knees at one point, but that when he heard the first shot he got down to the ground for safety. The guard said he never saw Cole point a gun at anyone. Defense attorneys called former Green Bay police officer and Waukesha Area Technical College instructor Mike Knetzger, a certified instructor in defense and arrest tactics. Defense attorneys questioned Knetzger about use of force, noting that officers don’t need to go through each level of force before deadly force, especially if a situation happens quickly. Knetzger said that “special circumstances” such as the suspect’s behavior, could escalate the use of force. He later acknowledged, however, that shooting someone facing away from an officer without a gun pointed in their direction may not be an appropriate use of force. Knetzger said that use of force has to be considered from the perspective of a hypothetical “reasonable officer” and not specifically from the perspective of Mensah, who was the only officer on scene to fire his weapon at Cole. 

Closing arguments are expected on  Thursday, after which the jury will begin deliberations.

The federal courthouse in Milwaukee.

The second day of the  civil trial in the fatal police shooting of Alvin Cole began Tuesday morning with testimony from Evan Olson, one of the officers  on the scene when Cole was shot  on the night of  Feb 2,  2020. Olson was one of three Wauwatosa officers whose contradictory statements about the shooting formed the basis for the civil suit . Attorneys on both sides grilled witnesses for hours.

Olson, like other current Wauwatosa officers called to the stand, arrived at Milwaukee’s federal courthouse in full uniform. For part of the morning Wauwatosa Chief James MacGillis sat in the gallery. 

Olson said he was friends with officer Joseph Mensah, who has been accused by the Cole family of using excessive force when he shot Alvin Cole. 

On Feb 2, 2020, Olson was one of several officers who responded to Mayfair Mall after reports went out about a disturbance involving a group of boys, one of whom had a gun. When Olson arrived on the scene, Cole and his friends were  leaving the mall and  running from police. Olson approached the mall from the west, cutting off the fleeing teens. After pulling up and getting out of his squad car, Olson approached two boys and told them to “get the [expletive] on the ground”, drew his service weapon and used a flashlight to illuminate the area. 

From his position, Olson could see Cole being pursued in the distance. Unlike other witness officers, Olson claimed that he didn’t see Cole fall to his hands and knees. Instead, Olson said Cole was in a “low, ready” position, which he compared to a sprinter’s stance, or a lineman’s stance in football. Attorney Nate Cade, one of the lawyers representing the Cole family, pressed Olson on what he saw, noting that his testimony was inconsistent with that of other officers. Squad car video of the shooting was played repeatedly in the courtroom on both the first and second day of the trial. Judge Lynn Adelman said that re-watching the video “is quite oppressive, actually,” and asked attorneys to limit how often they played it. 

Olson said Cole, in his “low, ready” position, also had his arm “tucked” similar to a “hug yourself gesture.” He also testified that while Cole was on the ground, he extended a black handgun in Olson’s direction. When Mensah fired five shots at Cole, the teen went flat and prone on the ground, Olson said. 

The officer said he never saw Cole crawling, a detail mentioned by Joseph Wirth, one of the attorneys representing Mensah, during Monday’s opening statements. Olson’s statement to Milwaukee police investigators in 2020 that Cole pointed a gun at him contradicts former Wauwatosa officer David Shamsi, who now works for the FBI. In depositions and on the stand, Shamsi said that he never saw Cole move once he fell to the ground. Shamsi was the closest officer to the teen with just a few feet between them. Mensah — who’s expected to testify on Wednesday — said that the gun was pointed only at him. Mensah was facing Cole from a different position than Olson, who also said the gun was pointed in his direction. 

Attorneys also noted that after the shooting, Olson and Mensah went off alone together for an undetermined amount of time. This interaction violated policies for investigating officer-involved shootings in the Milwaukee area, which state that involved officers should be separated from other witnesses in order to avoid contamination of statements. This line of questioning, however, stopped after a sidebar between attorneys and the judge. 

Video from inside one of the squad cars captured a voice (presumably Mensah’s) yelling after the shooting, “[expletive], I can’t believe I just shot somebody.” Olson, however, said he couldn’t understand what the voice was saying when the video was played back. 

Olson was interviewed once by police investigators after the shooting, and then again months later in the summer of 2020 by the district attorney about what happened, and never mentioned the twisting, tucking, or rolling maneuvers he mentioned on the stand. Under questioning he conceded it was a significant detail to omit. 

After the shooting, Olson said he saw Mensah was distraught, and appeared to get emotional himself as he recalled it. He also testified that Cole didn’t appear to be surrendering, and that once the teen was shot he walked up and kicked the handgun out of Cole’s hand, then handcuffed him as he struggled to breath before he began life saving measures. 

During his time at Wauwatosa PD, Olson attracted controversy to the department after punching a teenager in the face at Mayfair Mall several times. Fox6 News found that prior to the incident, Olson had been suspended for violating department policies such as by speeding, after which former Chief Barry Weber advised Olson that he was on his “very last warning.” In 2021, both Olson and officer Dexter Schleis — who testified in court on Monday —- were also involved in a non-fatal shooting of a teenager who ran from officers with a firearm.

After Olson, the court heard testimony from Sean Kaefer, a filmmaker and director of UW-Milwaukee’s documentary film program. Kaefer testified about squad car video he helped edit and enhance, which was to be shown later that day in the trial. Kaefer said he attempted to lighten the dark video, boost colors, zoom in, remove background noise, and add circles and arrows to point out things in the video such as Cole on the ground and Mensah firing and walking away. “What I do is very little,” said Kaefer. However, he said the video from Wauwatosa’s squad cars was poor quality, and the department didn’t have body cameras prior to the Cole shooting.

Shenora Jordan, principal at Messmer High School in Milwaukee witnessed the foot pursuit and shooting of Cole from her car. Jordan said she heard a shot, saw a boy fall to the ground, and then heard multiple shots which would’ve come from Mensah. Jordan said she saw Cole laying flat on ground after he shot, with his legs in the air kicking as if he was still running, before they slowly lowered.

“I was in disbelief, still in disbelief,” said Jordan, who said Cole never pointed a gun, and that she never saw him with anything in his hands. Later, Jordan said she made a social media post about what she saw, and was contacted by community organizers who advised her to contact the district attorney’s office. Jordan said she spoke with now-District Attorney Kent Lovern, and later was invited to meet Greenfield police investigators at a library in their jurisdiction. Although she told them what happened, and the conversation was recorded, Jordan said she felt the investigators didn’t really care about what she had to say.

Jordan said that neither her husband nor her children, who were in the car with her during the shooting, were ever interviewed by investigators. During her meeting with officers, Jordan drew a map to show  what she saw. When attorney Wirth for Mensah’s defense questioned Jordan, he suggested that she was never in a position to witness the shooting. Wirth played video from two squad cars, which only shows a vehicle matching Jordan’s passing by with others moments after the shooting was over. Jordan took issue with Wirth’s framing. “This is very serious,” she said. “I don’t want to be confused, and I don’t want you to twist my words,” she said.

Dr. Wieslaw Tlomak, chief medical examiner for Milwaukee County, gave lengthy testimony on  Cole’s autopsy, placing stickers on a mannequin to show where Cole was shot. Cole also had blunt force injuries and abrasions to his head. 

Later in the day, Chief James MacGillis returned to watch from the gallery alongside Wauwatosa PD Capt. Luke Vetter. The two sat across the courtroom from Cole’s mother, brother, and sister, Taleavia, whom Vetter has said police monitored for her protest activities after her brother was killed.

By the end of the day, once the jury was dismissed for the day, attorney Wirth attempted to call for a mistrial. Wirth pointed to Jordan’s testimony, accusing her of misrepresenting what she saw and asked the judge either for a mistrial, or to strike her testimony. Attorney Cade countered that Olson directly contradicted testimony from other officers including Shamsi and Johnson while on the stand, arguing that if anyone was manipulating their testimony, it was Olson. Judge Adelman denied the defense’s requests, saying that the jury will get to decide who they believe. “It’s really their call, not mine,” Adelman said. 

This article has been edited to correct the name Shenora Jordan, who was called Shenora Jones in an earlier version. We regret the error. 

A large wildfire in Green Lake County has been contained. An earlier wildfire in Waushara County covered about 830 acres. (Wisconsin DNR photo)

A 720-acre wildfire that erupted Monday in the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area of Green Lake County has been contained, according to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The so-called Big Island Fire has caused at least two residences to be evacuated, with six structures threatened by the fire, but not lost to it, according to the DNR. 

Six DNR engines, air patrol, and low ground units from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are assisting along with other local agencies. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the fire is burning on state and private lands. Six homes were saved as well as other buildings, and no structures were lost, nor were there injuries reported, according to the DNR. Although the fire has been put out, smoke is still lingering in the area, and an investigations of the cause of the  fire cause is ongoing.

The White River Marsh State Wildlife Area is a 12,000-acre property containing open marsh, swamp hardwoods, wet meadows, upland prairie, oak savanna and shrub carr. The area is favored by hunters for the small game and birds. The marsh was studied  by Aldo Leopold in the 1940s and later recommended for conservation purposes. 

Wisconsin is already having an active wildfire season, which the DNR has called unusual and early. More than  223 wildfires have burned nearly 1,400 acres in Wisconsin already this year. In late February, a wildfire in Jefferson County burned about 95 acres, including 6.4 acres in the southern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. The fire was worsened by dry conditions and high winds, but firefighters were able to contain the blaze. 

The larger fire in Green Lake County comes as much of the Midwest experiences extreme weather. At least 40 people died this week after tornados ripped through communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Storms have also devastated towns and cities in the southern U.S. 

Climate scientists have long warned that more frequent and intense extreme weather will occur if carbon emissions aren’t lowered. In 2025, the world is expected to exceed the 1.5 degrees celsius limit researchers warned would cause the effects of climate change to worsen. 

Tracy Cole, the mother of Alvin Cole, surrounded by her family. (Photo by Isiah Holmes)

A federal civil trial into the killing of 17-year-old Alvin Cole by then-Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah five years ago began on Monday, bringing Cole’s family, Mensah, a cast of current and former Wauwatosa officers, and other witnesses into the U.S. district court building in Milwaukee. The lawsuit accuses Mensah of using excessive force when he fired five shots at Cole in 2020, killing him after a foot chase in a darkened mall parking lot. 

During opening statements, attorney Kimberly Motley said police officers receive  extensive training in use of force under Wisconsin’s  Defense and Arrest Tactics (DAAT) standards. Motley said that when officers fire their weapons they must “articulate each shot” and that Mensah “did not exercise restraint” when he shot Cole. Cole’s case  was  Mensah’s third shooting over a five year period, although attorneys agreed to not bring up that fact during the trial. “We believe that Joseph Mensah did not have the right to shoot and kill Alvin Cole,” said Motley. 

The mostly white jury of seven women and one man listened intently to statements from both Motley and attorney Joseph Wirth who represents Mensah. They recounted the events of  Feb. 2 2020, a Super Bowl Sunday, when  Cole and a group of his friends  got into a verbal altercation with another group of boys at the Mayfair mall. Police were called and the boys fled. Officers later testified that a  single gun shot was heard as the police were  chasing Cole, though they did not see who fired the gun. While Cole was on his hands and knees, surrounded by officers, Mensah fired five shots, later claiming that Cole pointed a gun at him. Wirth said footchases are dangerous and unpredictable and  stressed that the events leading up to the shooting took place over less time than it took the attorney to introduce himself to the jury. He appealed to the jurors saying  they could be sympathetic to the Cole family, while also ruling that Mensah’s use of force was reasonable. “Put yourself in the officer’s shoes,” Wirth told the jury. 

Motley said that Cole accidentally shot himself in the forearm before he fell, breaking his arm in the process. The broken arm would have made it hard for him to aim his gun at Mensah, as Mensah claimed, Motley said.  Also, an officer who was closer to Cole than Mensah said that Cole hadn’t moved at all before Mensah fired. 

That officer, David Shamsi, who’s now an FBI agent, was called as a witness on Monday. Another officer, Evan Olson, who said the gun was pointed in a completely different direction than Mensah claims, is also expected to testify later in the week. The  contradictory statements from officers Mensah, Olson, and Shamsi persuaded U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman that the lawsuit should go to trial. 

On Monday, Alvin’s father, Albert Cole,  recalled dropping his son off with his friends the last  time he would see him.  After Alvin died, Albert became “anti-social,” he testified, Crying on the witness stand, he said  Alvin’s death left a hole in his life and that of Tracy Cole,  his wife of over 30 years. “That hurt was inside me,” he said.

Shamsi testified that he was “tunnel visioned” on Cole’s gun, which he said remained on the ground and didn’t move after Cole fell to his hands and knees in the dark parking lot. Shamsi hadn’t considered whether Cole was wounded and, in fact, was prepared to fire his own weapon if the boy moved again. “I did not see him point a gun at me,” said Shamsi.

During questioning, attorneys noted that Shamsi changed his story when he was re-interviewed about the shooting months after it occurred. It was during that interview that Shamsi said that he saw Cole’s arm extended towards officers. When he was deposed for the civil lawsuit and then on the stand Monday, Shamsi reverted to his original statements that he did not see Cole move after he was on the ground. 

Cole family attorney Nate Cade told Wisconsin Examiner that he suspects Shamsi changed his story after meeting  with Mensah’s attorneys, because  “no one wants to turn around and say that a fellow officer did something wrong.” He said  Shamsi’s testimony that the gun never moved “is the most damning thing.” Cole’s shooting was initially investigated by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), before the Milwaukee County district attorney decided Mensah wouldn’t be charged for killing Cole in 2020. A recent investigation by Wisconsin Examiner in partnership with Type Investigations found a pattern of MAIT policies protecting officers and contradictory statements left unchallenged. 

Cade said  “the district attorney looked the other way” and that there were things that investigators “should have done” but neglected,  such as measuring the distance between Cole’s body and bullet casings. “There are no measurements,” said Cade. “None of the officers identified exactly where they were standing.” 

Attorneys also called a civilian witness who’d seen Cole’s group running from police and witnessed the shooting. The witness said that he did not see Cole running with anything in his hands, suggesting that he had not turned his body to point a gun at officers as he ran. Wauwatosa officer Dexter Schleis agreed with Cade that deadly force is allowed if an armed person turns towards an officer, he would not answer directly when asked if deadly force is appropriate when an armed person has their back to an officer, is on the ground and isn’t moving. Schleis repeatedly asked for the question to be repeated, that he didn’t understand, or couldn’t say whether the shooting complied with police protocol.

A Milwaukee police squad in front of the Municipal Court downtown. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

Activists in Milwaukee are calling for more community control of police as the public learns about a Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) officer arrested by federal authorities last week. Juwon Madlock, who had 10 years of service at MPD, is accused of a variety of crimes stemming from his alleged relationship with a local gang. 

A federal complaint accuses Madlock — among other things — of possessing a machine gun, selling guns and ammunition to local gang members and using police databases to furnish intelligence to those gangs about rivals and informants. The complaint alleges that Madlock worked with “a violent street gang in Milwaukee” identified by federal authorities as the “Burleigh Zoo Family.” It’s unclear whether the gang chose the name or whether it was bestowed on the group by law enforcement investigators. 

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, a local group which has called for accountability and community oversight of law enforcement, released a statement noting that Madlock appears on Milwaukee County’s Brady List of  officers with problematic histories. A searchable database compiled by TMJ4 states that at the time Madlock was placed on the Brady List, he was still employed at MPD. 

Records related to Madlock’s disciplinary history maintained by the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) mention that Madlock and another officer, Benjamin Bender, violated integrity standards for failing to investigate a reported shooting from a victim who came into MPD’s District 7 in 2021. Representatives from the FPC didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression questions why an officer with Madlock’s history was allowed to remain on MPD, and whether other officers who have violated police standards continue to serve on MPD. “We need these questions answered now, and we need concrete steps from Chief Jeffrey Norman to rectify this situation,” the group said in a statement.

A press release from MPD states that Chief Norman “expects all members, sworn and civilian, to demonstrate the highest ethical standards in the performance of their duties and was extremely disappointed to learn about the misconduct in this case. Chief Norman wants to remind the public that everyone is afforded the right of due process under the law, and as such, are innocent until proven guilty.”

Madlock was arrested on March 12, after agents from the FBI office of Milwaukee and MPD’s Internal Affairs division “made contact” with him, according to the department’s press release. The trail to Madlock’s door began on Feb 13, when MPD’s Special Investigations Division, tactical units, and federal task force officers of the FBI’s “Milwaukee Area Safe Streets Task Force” executed a search warrant of a home in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield. Their target, 29-year-old Cobie Hannah Jr., was wanted by the Milwaukee County sheriff according to the federal complaint. Although Hannah was ordered not to have weapons, when officers searched his  home, they allegedly found firearms, stolen license plates and false vehicle registrations. 

After seizing and searching an iPhone and laptops, investigators found a text message chain from a number they later linked to Madlock using “law enforcement and open-source databases,” the complaint states. The text messages reveal conversations in which Madlock discusses selling guns and ammunition to members of the “Burleigh Zoo Family” according to the complaint. The messages also discuss what investigators believe are plans to steal cars. 

In separate instances, Madlock appeared to be providing gang members with information about police movements and patrols, so that alleged gang members who were wanted could avoid law enforcement. Some of the messages suggested Madlock used law enforcement databases to renew plates which were also used by gang members to avoid law enforcement. One of the more damning messages suggests that Madlock used law enforcement information databases to identify informants and find addresses to arrange shootings among rival gangs. The unchecked use of such databases by law enforcement, particularly when it comes to surveillance of citizens without a clear public safety reason, is a growing concern among privacy and civil liberties groups.

After Madlock was brought into custody, he allegedly spoke with investigators about the text messages and what they meant. A federal search warrant was served on Madlock’s North Side Milwaukee home. A handgun “affixed with a machinegun conversion device’ was found in the basement. When asked about the various guns he allegedly offered for sale, the complaint states, Madlock claimed the weapons were owned by his parents and brother. Madlock’s father allegedly told law enforcement later that the guns were indeed his, but that his son did not have permission to sell them, and that he didn’t know about the machine pistol.

The complaint also mentions that Madlock claimed that Hannah was “a source of information for him, in his capacity as a police officer.” Madlock did not sign Hannah up as an official confidential source, however, and had not taken the required training to use informants. Nor could he show investigators instances — such as through text messages —- of times when Hannah served as an informant or source of information. Instead, the federal complaint states, “the situation was reversed: MADLOCK, the police officer, is providing information to HANNAH, the wanted fugitive. MADLOCK did not have a cogent response.” 

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression says the case points to a need for greater community oversight of the police. Although Madlock was arrested over the course of the federal investigation, he remained on the force for years after being flagged on the Brady List as an officer with integrity issues. The fact that the integrity concern was raised over Madlock’s lack of investigating a reported shooting raises further red flags in the eyes of community members. “If the Chief of Police will not hold his own police officers accountable, we need a mechanism through which the people of Milwaukee, the people who are policed, can hold them accountable,” the Alliance said in a statement.

Kenosha County courthouse. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Nearly four years ago, Justin Blake joined a group of peaceful protesters outside the Kenosha County Public Safety Building after learning  that the Kenosha officer who shot and paralyzed Blake’s then-29-year-old nephew Jacob — triggering protests and riots in 2020 — was returning to work. At the April 25 2021 protest, Justin Blake was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting/obstructing an officer. A jury found Blake not guilty earlier this week. Now he is seeking justice for the “torture” he allegedly endured at the hands of sheriff’s deputies, as described in an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit. 

“Our big brother and our family were infuriated, and the community at large,” upon hearing that officer Rusten Shensky was back on duty, Blake told Wisconsin Examiner. It was a decision the Kenosha Police Department (KPD) made without informing the family or community, said Blake. “So in order to bring light to this, we elected to protest peacefully.” 

Protesters wanted to deliver a letter to local law enforcement leadership asking why Sheskey’s return to work hadn’t been publicized, and questioning why the officer hadn’t been reprimanded for breaking procedure when he shot Jacob Blake in August 2020. Sheskey was responding to a domestic dispute when he shot Blake seven times, as Blake walked away from him and attempted to leave in a vehicle. Blake’s family said he was unarmed, though police claim that a knife was found at the scene. After investigations by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Kenosha County district attorney declined to file charges against Sheskey. Then-KPD Chief Daniel Miskinis said Sheskey acted “within the law,” that his behavior fell within policy guidelines and that he would not face internal discipline. 

Court records show that a detective, sergeant and two sheriff’s deputies were called to testify about Justin Blake’s involvement in the April 2021 protest. Two of those Kenosha County sheriff’s personnel, Detective Allison George and Deputy Kyle Bissonnette, contributed narratives to the civil complaint filed against Blake for disorderly conduct in the Kenosha County Circuit Court. The complaint  states that some participants in the protest, which it describes as peaceful, began obstructing access to the Public Safety Building to citizens attempting to report routine crimes or other complaints with the sheriff’s office, so that members of the public needed to be directed to alternative entrances by staff. 

Blake and two other protesters were arrested during the protest. During the trial, attorney Kimberly Motley — representing Blake — successfully argued that aspects of the narrative deputies put in the civil complaint against her client did not match video and witness testimony. 

According to a federal civil rights complaint filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin court, Blake was placed in an “emergency restraint chair” after refusing to speak with deputies while he was in custody. The complaint alleges that some of the sheriff’s deputies knew who both Blake and his nephew were. At least eight sheriff’s deputies and one health care worker allegedly wrestled Blake into the chair, where his  arms, legs and chest were tightly strapped for nearly seven hours. 

“We should not have been detained, arrested. We had broken no laws, we were peacefully protesting,”  Blake said. “We utilized the Constitution. We have the right not to talk, not to communicate.”

“This is why it’s so important that this case get more publicity,” Blake told Wisconsin Examiner. “Because they’re challenging people to say that you can’t even protest, not even peacefully. And that’s in the Constitution. So it’s imperative that people stand up and fight.” Blake’s father marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he said, in Selma, Washington, and in Chicago, where Blake is from. “We come from fighters, and by no means are we going to allow them to charge us with any kind of charge and not fight it.” 

Blake feels that he and his family attracted the ire of law enforcement because they refuse to be silent. Over dozens of protests, rallies and marches, and hours spent contacting local elected officials, and building alliances with community activists, Blake said the attitude of law enforcement became clear. “They despised us,” said Blake, “and they wanted to put us in our place. And we believe that’s what this was about.” The Kenosha County Sheriff has yet to respond to a request for comment for this story at the time of publication. 

Blake told Wisconsin Examiner that his family’s activism will continue, since few changes have been made in the Kenosha area since the unrest of 2020 and, he said, the underlying problems that triggered the protests in the first place have not been addressed. 

The Milwaukee County Jail. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

A potential uprising in the Milwaukee County Jail in mid-February, reportedly sparked by conditions in the facility, was quelled by guards before it occurred, according to Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office emails obtained by Wisconsin Examiner. 

Jail staff transported 42-year-old Keenan Brown to a segregation unit after Brown allegedly threatened to incite a riot in one of the jail’s housing units, according to sheriff’s department records. 

One incident report states that Brown “was shouting to the entire housing unit that the inmates needed to stick up for themselves and that they would not be taken seriously until they started assaulting staff.” Brown, according to the report, was placed on administrative segregation as a result. 

Another email, sent by a sergeant in the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Detention Services Bureau to other jail supervisors on Feb. 12, mentions that jail supervisors learned that Brown had used a tablet to message his mother with information about a potential riot and encouraged her to post the information on social media and contact Fox6 News. The email states that when jail staff spoke to Brown, he expressed concerns about jail occupants not being let out of their cells all day and his feelings that the guards were violating their rights. 

Staff questioned Brown about possible threats made about inciting a riot, according to the sergeant’s email, and Brown replied that several people housed in the jail were making such comments. Emails note that Brown was moved to segregation in the jail’s POD 4D. At least 20 people were removed from POD 5D. While it appears from the emails that Brown was one of them, the sheriff’s office has not confirmed that was his previous housing. The sheriff’s office has not said whether Brown remains in the segregation unit. 

When Brown was removed from his cell, according to a major incident summary obtained by Wisconsin Examiner through open records requests, he was in a wheelchair. The report says that “he stood up and got into a defensive stance and became violently aggressive with staff.” The report lists four jail guards as victims, and refers to photos and body camera footage that was captured of the cell extraction. Jail Staff used a type of pepper spray called Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) and a taser, according to the summary. 

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. Court records and online booking information show that Brown was booked into the jail on April 1, 2024. He was charged with two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, using a vehicle to flee an officer, resisting an officer, and one count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. His next court date is set for March 27, 2025. 

There have been previous incidents of unrest in the jail in recent years. During the summer of 2023, over two dozen men housed in the jail barricaded themselves in a library area. The jail’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) was activated, and the jail was locked down. 

That standoff began as a protest over conditions in the jail. It ended after correctional staff used OC spray to remove the men from the library. The unrest wasn’t made public for weeks, until the district attorney’s office filed a complaint charging the 27 men with disorderly conduct. 

After the 2023 unrest was made public Sylvester Jackson, a Milwaukee-area incarceration activist, told Wisconsin Examiner that incarcerated people have turned to fomenting unrest when they don’t see other options to raise their concerns. “When you get to a point where you can’t take no more, you go to the extreme to do what you got to do to literally draw attention,” said Jackson. 

The Milwaukee County Jail has been the object of growing controversy. Over a 14-month period from 2022 to 2023, six people died in custody in the jail. 

Among the first to raise attention in the community was 21-year-old Brieon Green, who the sheriff’s department said died by suicide in his cell. Another death involved Cilivea Thyrion, a 20-year-old woman who died after eating pieces of an adult diaper while on suicide watch. In the days and weeks leading up to her death, Thryion made repeated attempts to inform jail staff of harassment and maltreatment she’d received from certain guards. 

In 2024, an audit of the jail found that the facility “faces a complex web of challenges that jeopardize the safety and well-being of its occupant population and staff.” The audit found “unsafe restraining of occupants” who are on suicide watch, lack of supervision of people in segregation and suicide watch units, occupants who reported difficulty accessing mental health services, problems with use of force procedures, and and other issues. 

On Thursday, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball held a highly structured town hall, attended by jail command staff and with the only questions being asked by Ken Harris, a former Milwaukee police officer and host of the radio show The Truth on 101.7. Urban Milwaukee reported that Milwaukee County supervisors criticized how the town hall was conducted. 

Jail command staff said during the town hall that plans are underway to retrofit existing booking rooms with individual suicide cells. The Sheriff’s Office, however, has continued to oppose implementing an expedited video release policy for critical incidents, which has been active in the City of Milwaukee for the police department. A more transparent video release policy has been a key policy demand of local activists and the families of people who’ve died in the jail. 

Ball said that she hoped the town hall “was an opportunity for [the public] to express themselves.” To address issues like replacing the suicide watch areas of the booking room Ball said, “we’re going to need resources, and as a result, we will be requesting those resources…It’s going to cost a lot of money.”

Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner

Just three months into 2025, at least 151 wildfires have burned nearly 430 acres across Wisconsin, at the time of this writing. A lack of late-winter snow cover, drought conditions throughout the state, and high winds have created the perfect conditions for fires, which can quickly spread out of control. 

One of those fires, contained in late February by firefighters in Jefferson County, burned approximately 95 acres, including an estimated 6.4 acres in the southern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Palmyra Fire Rescue was dispatched after reports of a large fire in the woods, near a cemetery, the fire department said in a press release. When firefighters arrived, about 20 acres of a grass field was on fire. 

Due to winds that reached 20 miles per hour with wind gusts of 35 miles per hour, the fire spread rapidly. Backup support came  from Sullivan, Kettle Moraine, Rome, Western Lakes, Ixonia, Jefferson, Johnson Creek, LaGrange, Vernon, Fort Atkinson, and 14 other jurisdictions as well as the Salvation Army Rehab Unit to contain the blaze. The Palmyra Fire Rescue press release states that ATV’s and bush trucks were deployed, and a command post was established to help coordinate the effort. No injuries were reported. 

Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, a Palmyra Fire Rescue spokesperson told Wisconsin Examiner that the cause may never be known. Often with these types of fires there’s not enough physical evidence to establish a cause, the spokesperson wrote in an email. However, a wildfire management dashboard maintained by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports most of the wildfires this year have been traced back to debris burning. 

Catherine Koele, a veteran wildfire prevention specialist with the DNR, said in an email message that the wildfire “is rather unusual for this time of year.” In Wisconsin, “our traditional wildfire season is in March after the snow melts and prior to vegetation fully greens up,” Koele said. “But, anytime the ground is not completely snow-covered, we are prone to wildfires when vegetation is cured.” 

Brian Lemke, a property supervisor for the Kettle Moraine’s southern unit, said via email that the burned portions of state forest were “all part of a pine stand close to our horse trails and across the road from our horse campground.” However, Lemeke said the fire did not affect trails or enter the campground. 

“The pine area has been marked and sold as part of a forestry thinning,” Lemke said, with the harvest designated for paper mills. “Generally fire-scarred trees are not suitable for paper mills, but I haven’t heard from our forester if the timber contract will be amended yet.” 

This year trends are continuing that  contributed to fires in the past. Jan. 3, 2025,  was the driest January day in Wisconsin since 1895, and 3.3 million Wisconsinites now live in drought areas, according to a U.S. government drought monitor. No Wisconsin counties have received drought disaster designations from the federal government, however. 

Wildfires have become more frequent  in recent years in Wisconsin, and across the country. In 2023, an 830-acre wildfire attacked structures and debris in Waushara County, burning an area of pine and mixed hardwoods. Gusty winds and drought conditions also contributed to that  fire, as well as the erratic behavior of the fire itself. At the time, the DNR reported that although the number of fires that  year  were comparable to previous years, fires were burning  larger swaths of land.

Massive wildfires in Canada, which caused thousands of Canadians to evacuate. also caused clouded skies in Wisconsin and sharp dips in air quality that year. 

Much of the  wildfire activity in 2023 was attributed to climate change. With carbon dioxide levels at their highest in history – carbon emission levels in 2025 are expected to exceed the 1.5 degrees celsius limit — climate scientists have warned the effects of climate change are likely to worsen. 

Protesters march in Milwaukee calling for more community control of the police. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

What has become of the city of Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission (FPC) since the passage of Act 12, which traded its policy-making powers over the police department for a fiscal deal with the state? That’s the question the Milwaukee Turners’ – described as Milwaukee’s oldest civic group – sought to answer with hard data. 

From June to December 2024, the Turners’ “Confronting Mass Incarceration team” monitored the FPC – itself one of the nation’s oldest civilian-led oversight bodies for police and fire departments. The team monitored the FPC’s meetings, who attended, what attendees did, and how commissioners engaged in the meetings. A white paper published earlier this month, detailing the team’s findings, noted among other things that:

• The FPC spent 81% of its time discussing personnel matters, and often discussed these during closed sessions which the public cannot view. The Turners noted 359 minutes were spent discussing personnel matters, whereas just 49 minutes were spent on public comment. 
• The Turners noticed what they described in the white paper as “an overall lack of active engagement and participation from commissioners.”
• Law enforcement personnel attended FPC meetings more frequently than members of the general public. During the monitoring period, 30 police personnel attended meetings whereas 20 members of the public attended. Of those members of the public who attended the meetings, half engaged in public comment and of those, only three received a direct response from commissioners. 

The report states the FPC “appears to serve as a rubber stamp” and that the commission “has failed to secure public trust.” Dr. Emily Sterk, a research and advocacy associate with Milwaukee Turners who worked on the project, explained why the numbers looked the way they do. While citizens can discuss whatever they want during public comment, commissioners can’t discuss anything that isn’t on the agenda due to open meetings laws. “So therefore they just have this practice to, you know, have public comment but then not even address the public that is there,” Sterk told Wisconsin Examiner. 

While she understands the legal reason for this practice, Sterk said, “that is, for us, subjectively very troubling when a member of the public makes the time and effort to get themselves down there, go to this meeting which – as we alluded to in the white paper – the regular sessions are very frequently heavily delayed because of the closed sessions that are taking place.” As a result, the commission ends up engaging in back-and-forth discussions with city officials and law enforcement more frequently than the public, whose comments may be left unheard. 

Leon Todd, executive director of the FPC, told Wisconsin Examiner that personnel matters such as promotions, hiring or setting recruitment standards “are extremely important.” Todd added, “I don’t think it is necessarily problematic that the FPC spends a goodly amount of time on that. It is part of their core functions. It’s been part of their core responsibilities for more than 150 years…Since 1885 no person has been appointed or promoted to any position in the police or fire departments without the express approval of the FPC board.” 

Yet even this function of the FPC has come under fire. In January, the commission was criticized by conservative elected officials, right-wing media outlets and the Milwaukee Police Association after an officer was denied promotion. WISN12 reported that the FPC considered promotions for seven officers, and only denied officer Jason Daering. A couple of weeks later in early February, the FPC reversed its position and voted to promote Daering to sergeant. Prior to the final vote, FPC co-chair Bree Spencer said that the police department didn’t provide a full file, that Daering did not appear for an interview and was unprepared. “So we really encourage, going forward, that people take this process seriously,” said Spencer. 

The commission’s voting record was another issue for the Milwaukee Turners. In their report, the group noted that over its monitoring period last year, the FPC took up 122 agenda items, of which 120 received unanimous approval. Only two agenda items – one involving the promotion of a detective and another concerning reappointing a former police officer – received No votes, with both items receiving two No votes. “Given the current practices of the FPC, including closed sessions and lack of Commissioner participation during regular sessions, the public is left unaware of why these aye or no votes were made,” the report states. “We observed an overall lack of transparency when it comes to Commissioners’ voting records. Even if Commissioners are actively participating in deliberation and debate during closed sessions, the public has no way of knowing this.” 

Todd also pushed back against the Milwaukee Turners’ claim that the FPC has become a rubber stamp. Harkening back to the pre-Act 12 era Todd, who was appointed by former mayor Tom Barrett in November 2020, recalled the FPC’s record of pushing for police reform measures “that the [police] department did not agree with.” From a ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, to approving a policy of publicly releasing video of incidents like police shootings within 15 days of the incident. Those decisions – made when the FPC was led by Chairman Ed Fallone and Vice Chairwoman Amanda Avalos – were “probably, if not the reason, a big reason why the Legislature took away [FPC’s] policy-making authority, because they were acting independently and listening to community members from Milwaukee,” Todd told Wisconsin Examiner. 

After the passage of Act 12 in 2023, Fallone and Avalos resigned their positions in protest. Stripping the FPC of its decades-old policy-making powers emerged as a bargaining chip in negotiations between Milwaukee elected officials and the Republican-controlled Legislature. In exchange for targeting the FPC, reversing the Milwaukee Public School district decision to remove school resource officers from its facilities at the request of students and community members, and agreeing to never reduce the police force, the city of Milwaukee was allowed a new sales tax and county was allowed to raise its sales tax, which enabled both governments to avoid a fiscal catastrophe. Act 12’s law enforcement aspects had previously been proposed as bills favored by Republican lawmakers and the Milwaukee Police Association, which failed to pass.

For the FPC, it seems that many roads lead back to the shared revenue and sales tax deal codified by Act 12. In its report, Milwaukee Turners recommended that Act 12 be amended to return the policy-making powers of the FPC. This state-level solution, however, relies on cooperation from the Republican-controlled Legislature which helped craft, negotiate, and implement Act 12. 

In the meantime, the Turners recommend that the FPC bring ideas for policy changes to the common council. “We recommend that the FPC dedicate less of their regular sessions to closed door personnel matters, and instead publicly engage in discussions about new and amended [Standard Operating Procedures] that are brought forth by the [Milwaukee Police Department],” the report reads, adding that “the Common Council might actively invite policy recommendations from the FPC, especially as it relates to the concerns of their constituents.”

Todd told Wisconsin Examiner that the commission adopted a new rule requiring that the police department provide copies of any new or amended policies to the FPC within 48 hours, and no less than 30 days before the policies take effect. When that happens, a communication file is created by the FPC which goes into the regular agenda, and thus becomes public. Todd said that so far, the commission has not sent policy recommendations to the common council. 

Todd is considering other ways to beef up the FPC’s oversight capacity. Specifically, he wants to encourage a focus on the FPC’s audit unit as a way of being “more proactive” and “not just reactive.” Todd pointed to an audit on police pursuits, and the police department, Todd said, is also looking to create a vehicle pursuit committee. The commission also continues tracking citizen complaints about officer behavior, as well as progress the department makes in eliminating discriminatory stop and frisk practices as part of the Collins settlement agreement. This year, the audit unit is expecting to do six or seven audits which are unrelated to the Collins settlement, said Todd.

Additionally, an ordinance passed in the common council to ensure the elected body is quickly notified of policy changes. 

How the commission attracts more members of the public to attend meetings is another issue. Todd acknowledged that there have been fewer citizens attending public comment after the passage of Act 12. “I think that’s unfortunate,” he told Wisconsin Examiner. “I think that we welcome people to come and express their views, their input.” 

The last major policy he could recall passed before Act 12 was the video release policy concerning police shootings and related deaths. Local activists fought for the reform, as did the families of people killed in incidents involving Milwaukee-area police. 

Todd said that the FPC still has “soft power” such as through audits, which it can use to influence the police department. “So I’m hoping that we will get more public input going forward,” he said, noting that FPC recently welcomed in a new commissioner, Krissie Fung, from the Milwaukee Turners. 

“Our findings highlight the importance of fostering a culture of police and fire accountability within the FPC,” the Turners’ white paper concludes. “By advocating for legislative changes to restore policy making authority, increasing public engagement, and ensuring rigorous Commissioner participation, the FPC can rebuild public confidence and strengthen its capacity to address systemic inequalities in policing.”

“We really hope to continue to provide civilian oversight of the FPC and see what happens over the course of the next few months,” said Sterk, “especially as we continue our lobbying for the amendment of Act 12, as we hope members of the FPC and members of the public do as well.”

This report has been updated to clarify that Act 12 allowed the city to offer a sales tax and the county to raise its sales tax.