A Tesla Cybertruck driver hit several parked cars in a Miami neighborhood overnight.
Witnesses on the scene claim that the driver was racing a Lamborghini before crashing.
It remains unclear what charges are pending as police have not released a report yet.
A Tesla Cybertruck and a Lamborghini Urus were reportedly racing down a Miami road, only for the EV to crash into not just one parked car but nine. That’s the story according to witnesses on the mangled scene. Racing or not, it’s clear from video taken at the scene that a Cybertruck can do a lot of damage.
A Tesla Cybertruck and a Lamborghini Urus were reportedly racing down a Miami street when the EV slammed into not just one, but nine parked cars. That’s the account from witnesses at the mangled scene. Racing or not, video footage makes one thing clear: the Cybertruck can cause a whole lot of damage.
The crash happened just after midnight on Sunday Morning near the area of Northwest 10th Street and Eighth Street Road in Miami. Google Street View shows the road to be relatively tight with cars parked on both sides of the one-way street. It’s unclear if there really was a race or not, but the aftermath is undeniable.
The social media account “Only In Dade” posted a video of the scene showing cars on the right side of the road mangled. At the very start of the line of damaged cars is a Toyota Corolla with its driver-side wheel ripped all the way off. Ahead of it is a Kia Sportage with the rear end so crumpled that it’s likely a write-off.
At the front of the pack, the Tesla Cybertruck with teal-painted wheel covers sat idle while touching the last car it hit. In total, reports state the vehicle hit nine parked cars before coming to a stop. Exactly how the driver lost control remains unclear.
Eyewitness Account Suggests Street Race
Jose Zelaya, who owns a Suzuki damaged in the crash, told WSVN that the Cybertruck appeared to be racing a Lamborghini Urus before the driver lost control. “The Cybertruck was racing a Lamborghini Urus, and the Cybertruck lost control and hit every single car,” he said.
At this stage, local authorities haven’t released any information on the crash, the cause, or the charges that the Cybertruck driver could be facing. Fortunately, it appears that no one was injured in the incident, which may be the only silver lining in an otherwise costly and chaotic scene.
This story was produced in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Investigative Journalism class taught in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Editor’s note: A UW-Madison police officer is under investigation after a student journalist presented allegations the officer engaged in unsolicited text communications with students and offered to help students avoid underage drinking tickets.
Wisconsin Watch is not naming the officer because he hasn’t been formally disciplined or accused of a crime. The allegations in the following story are based on interviews with 11 students who all spoke on the condition of anonymity, partly for fear of retaliation, but also in order to discuss activities, such as underage drinking and possessing fake IDs, that could result in legal or disciplinary consequences.
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At last October’s bustling homecoming football game at Camp Randall, a University of Wisconsin-Madison police officer approached a sophomore who recognized him from a recent safety presentation he had given at her sorority.
The officer struck up a conversation with the sophomore and her friends, eventually asking Kate — whose name is a pseudonym — for her phone number.
“I don’t know why he needed my number in the first place,” Kate said. “Every time he would walk by us, he’d stop and talk to us — you know how they patrol the bleachers? — he was just always hanging out around us there.”
Minutes later the officer began texting Kate to ask if she and her friends wanted food from the concession stands. The group agreed.
“Free food!” Kate recalled thinking.
He texted again: “Hot chocolate next game (eyes emoji). If you’re nice,” according to text messages Kate shared from the officer.
A UW-Madison police officer sent this text message to a student while on duty at a Badgers football game. The student interpreted it as flirtatious and inappropriate for someone in a position of power.
After supplying the stadium snacks, the officer asked Kate to get coffee with him later that week.
Kate dodged the question, hoping to laugh it off and watch the game. But after the game ended, another text popped up at 11:47 p.m. that night asking if she had chosen her coffee spot yet.
Kate texted her sorority chapter president and asked, “What should I do if (the officer) asked me to get coffee?”
The sorority president texted back, “Just don’t respond.”
“I literally just never responded to that,” Kate said. “It got to the point where he was trying to go on dates … because I was nice to him, he took it too far and wanted to make it more.”
Camp Randall Stadium on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is shown on June 4, 2025, in this photo illustration. One student said a campus police officer sought her phone number at a football game and eventually asked her on a coffee date. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch) Credit: Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch
Kate was not the only student to experience unprofessional interactions with the same officer.
Accounts from 11 students, all of whom are affiliated with UW-Madison Greek organizations, describe how the same officer instigated texting relationships, asked female sources on coffee dates, relayed confidential police information to assist students in underage drinking and took students for rides in his squad car without first having them sign a liability waiver. Two male students interviewed for this story described their interactions with the officer positively, but female students viewed the contacts as inappropriate.
The officer’s behavior has persisted for at least four years, but was never the subject of a formal complaint, according to the UW-Madison Police Department. None of the students alleged the officer made any physical advances, and none agreed to go on a date with him.
“The UW-Madison Police Department became aware of the officer misconduct allegations when asked by the author for a comment for this article,” Assistant Chief Kari Sasso said in a statement. “We will review and investigate these claims as appropriate. There have been no formal complaints from community members, students or others regarding this officer. We hold our officers to the highest standards and take all allegations of officer misconduct seriously. We are committed to transparency and accountability within legal and policy boundaries.”
A spokesperson for UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin confirmed that an internal investigation is underway at UWPD.
The officer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Gaining trust at safety presentations
The UW-Madison police officer serves as a downtown liaison community officer for an area that includes Langdon Street, where many of the university’s sorority and fraternity houses are located.
Preliminary communication between the officer and students often began within the bounds of his job description. Student leaders reached out to set up semiannual safety presentations at their organizations, largely for students under the legal drinking age.
The presentations cover campus safety, medical amnesty and behavior-based policing and are discussions intended to help students feel informed and educated from a reputable police source.
While intended to detail the potential consequences of underage alcohol consumption — not encourage it — the officer’s presentations were peppered with advice for students on how to continue illegally drinking without getting caught, according to an audio recording of one presentation.
University of Wisconsin-Madison sorority houses along Langdon Street are shown on June 4, 2025, in this photo illustration. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
In one presentation the officer told students he would alert underage students ahead of time regarding pre-planned bar checks to help them avoid potential citations — a breach of confidential police information.
Bar checks, often called “raids” by students, serve to ensure bars aren’t serving students under the legal drinking age of 21. Police officers enter the premises while others block exits, requesting IDs from all patrons. Underage patrons in the bar face a fine of up to $1,250 for using a fake ID.
The student sources said over the last four years the officer shared confidential police information regarding bar checks with them over the phone, warning them in advance of the bars Madison police would be checking and the general timeline of the check.
One student in a leadership position also said he encouraged them to share the information with their personal contacts.
“It’s helpful to us, obviously — also kind of crazy that he goes behind the police station’s back,” Kate said.
The UW-Madison student who provided this text said she received it from a UW-Madison police officer at 11:47 p.m. the night of the football game where he was on duty.
In audio recorded as part of this investigation during one of the officer’s standard safety presentations this past school year, he told freshmen and sophomores, “I promise you I will always help you. If I’m ever involved in a bar check, it’s because I want to make sure that the city cops are actually treating you all with respect.”
“And every now and then I might hold whatever door I’m manning open for the three or four of you to leave without any real consequences — but don’t tell my boss that. I say that because I’ve actually done it,” he continued. “I don’t like bar checks. I hate the fact that you all are in the safest place to be consuming alcohol, rather than a basement or a house party or an apartment, and we’re jamming you all up by giving you tickets.”
The officer also examined the students’ fake IDs, checking if they are realistic enough to allow access at local bars. Kate was one of the students who offered her ID for inspection.
“That’s how it started,” Kate said. “He was basically like, ‘I owe you a coffee for volunteering.’”
Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina law professor and a nationally recognized policing expert, reviewed portions of the audio and said the UW-Madison officer’s presentation is not a standard police presentation on underage drinking.
“What those talks usually look like are how students can avoid breaking the law, how students can avoid trouble — not how students can break the law and not get in trouble for it,” Stoughton said.
Texting relationships with students
The officer only contacted students about bar check alerts over a phone call, multiple sources said.
“This would be the type of evidence that we use to establish knowledge of guilt; when he’s telling folks, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to put any of that in writing, I don’t want there to be a record of it,’” Stoughton said. “Well, that’s because you are aware that the record could be used against you in some way. So that seems problematic.”
A UW-Madison police officer offered to buy drinks for a group of students, including some he had met during a presentation at their sorority on campus safety.
After obtaining students’ cellphone numbers, the officer began reaching out to them outside of professional protocols: regularly checking in, calling and asking them to meet up.
For the nine female students interviewed for this story, his frequent check-ins quickly caused discomfort.
“When you’re in it, you think all these things are to help you, and then the further down in the year it got, when I was working with him specifically, I felt like I was putting myself in danger more than being protected,” said a former sorority executive member. “I didn’t want to work with him ever, and I also warned other people, like do not involve yourself. He’s not doing anything for us.”
Caroline, a pseudonym for a recently graduated senior at UW-Madison, felt similarly.
“I remember us being like, ‘Oh my god, he’s texting you now?’ He went through people, he was always texting different people,” Caroline said.
While females in leadership positions said he straddled the line between a professional and personal relationship, others who didn’t serve on executive boards or in organizational leadership, including Kate, are less certain about why he was texting them in the first place — saying there was no professional justification for his outreach.
“All of our texts are very playful and joke-y in what he was saying — it wasn’t like he was professional,” Kate said.
Offering rides without waivers
Some students and former students claimed that the officer offered them rides in his squad car.
One source took him up on that offer.
Allen, a recently graduated UW-Madison student also identified with a pseudonym, claimed he went for a drive with the officer in January 2023 when he was a sophomore.
“He picked me up in his car and we drove around for like 20 minutes. He asked me about myself. He really made an effort to establish a friendship and a relationship with me, which I really appreciated,” Allen said. “He was just a real beacon of guidance.”
Camp Randall Stadium is shown on June 4, 2025, in this photo illustration. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Records of ride-along waivers signed between Jan. 1, 2022, and Jan. 1, 2025, show only two people signed liability waivers for UW-Madison police ride-alongs over the past three years.
Allen’s name did not appear in any of the signed waivers. He also doesn’t recall signing a waiver.
“I feel like I would remember if I had to sign something,” he said.
Stoughton said it’s a liability issue, should a police officer choose to disregard mandatory waivers. Typically officers will alert dispatchers of a pickup and drop-off to ensure nothing inappropriate happens.
“There are procedures that are in place to help protect everyone’s interest: the police agencies, the individual officers and the community members,” Stoughton continued. “(It) sounds like he is just completely ignoring those standard protocols.”
Male students appreciative, female students uncomfortable
Three UW students, two males and one female, expressed gratitude for the officer’s help in keeping them out of police trouble, especially those who are under 21.
“I do think there is a very deep appreciation for him making himself as available as possible to everyone, in a plethora of different events and situations,” one fraternity leader said.
The UW-Madison student interpreted additional texts from the UW-Madison police officer as overly friendly and unprofessional.
Allen felt similarly. “I was very blown away by his willingness to not just be an administrator, but to be a friend. Not a parental figure — an adviser, but more than that, much more friendly than that,” he said. “We developed a personal friendship.”
But the female students mostly interpreted the officer’s behavior differently.
“His actions blurred the line between authority and familiarity, leaving students unsure of his true intentions,” the sorority leader said. “What I would’ve changed was his approach. Instead of trying to be our ‘friend’ and making us feel like we had an inside connection with campus law enforcement, he should have taken a more traditional and professional role.”
University policy W-5048 covers relationships between those in unequal levels of power, stating that a relationship between an employee and student is “not appropriate when they occur between an employee of the university and a student over whom the employee has or potentially will have supervisory, advisory, evaluative, or other authority or influence.”
Stoughton said there’s a line in policing, with making yourself available on one side, but affirmatively seeking out individuals in a nonorganizational capacity on the other.
“It doesn’t surprise me that the female students have a slightly different perspective than male students because male students may be — for several complicated reasons — just less cognizant of that power dynamic,” Stoughton said. “Female students may be much more aware of that power dynamic. It’s the officer’s job, though, to also be aware of it.”
If you have a complaint about the conduct of a UW-Madison Police Department officer, you can file a complaint online or call the department and speak with a supervisor, according to UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas. The department typically requires a person’s name and doesn’t accept anonymous complaints.
This is an ongoing story. If you or someone you know has had similar encounters with a UWPD officer, please let us know at tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
The driver of a school van in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, admitted drinking after fleeing a crash while transporting students, reported CBS News.
The driver, identified as 66-year-old Jeffrey Irwin, is facing a total of 27 charges, including multiple counts of DUI, reckless driving, and endangering the welfare of children.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said via the article that Irwin crashed into another vehicle on the 16th Street Bridge before fleeing the scene. He was transporting approximately six 10-year-olds at the time of the incident.
The students on board the van reportedly began contacting their parents to alert them of the situation. Law enforcement tracked down the van through GPS on children’s phones. Authorities located the vehicle and stopped the driver at an intersection. Students were safely returned to their families and there were no reported injuries.
One of the students on board the bus told local news reporters that Irwin almost flipped the bus over and then started moving into other lanes, almost hitting a car.
The criminal complaint states via the article that Irwin admitted to having three to four drinks prior to transporting the students. According to police, he also told an officer that he “self-medicates” with alcohol. Irwin had at least one prior DUI and left the scene of a crash in 2001.
Baldwin-Whitehall School District said via the article that the van was operated by contractor First Student and the driver is not a district employee. The case is under investigation.
Essential immigrant workers and their families gather in front of the Federal Building in Milwaukee for the Day Without Immigrants call to action. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)
People who believe the call to action, Black Lives Matter, to be controversial and provocative should buckle up.
What we’ve been witnessing these last weeks has been a new call to action: Immigrant Lives Matter.
Yes, even undocumented immigrant lives matter.
Black Lives Matter stirred passionate backlash unlike anything I’ve seen since the 1960s.
Immigrant Lives Matter is now a cry to recognize the humanity of people who are suffering violent attacks after being demonized as “aliens.”
I’ve written on immigration as a reporter, columnist and editorial writer for decades. The most invective I’ve had directed my way has been about who I am as the son of immigrants.
“Go back to Mexico” was a common retort to things I wrote. Each time I’d chuckle to myself: “Hard to do since I’m from California.”
Yup, I’m not from Mexico. But my parents were. And they lived in this country without legal status until I was in grade school.
I’m quite familiar with immigrant life, although, thanks to the 14th Amendment (also under attack by the Trump administration), I’m a citizen.
I’ve seen up close what being afraid of deportation looks like. The fear that a family would be torn apart, loss of livelihood and loss of the country you chose to work in, pay taxes for, build a family in and the only one your children know. And, in my case as with many other immigrants and children of immigrants, the country in whose military you chose to serve.
That experience and those decades of writing on immigration taught me that among the hottest buttons around are those dealing with the border, particularly when people cross it who don’t look and talk like you.
Standard disclaimer: You don’t have to be a racist to be concerned about immigration and immigrants, but using terms such as invasion, infestation, vermin, criminals and threat to American identity and values is a big tell.
As is calling out the military to combat a non-existent foreign invasion.
Black Lives Matter speaks to the current plight of people whose ancestors were unwilling immigrants, packed into slave ships and brought here by force. Dehumanizing racism and the shocking mistreatment of Black citizens by police has dogged our nation from the beginning.
But even that call to action, after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, was roundly disparaged.
Wrap your head around that. Americans who have been around since the country’s founding and over whose slavery a country fought a bitter civil war are still not considered American enough to insist on being treated as Americans.
All that immigrants and those who stand in solidarity with them are asking is that the basic precepts of fairness, humanity and, importantly, due process extend to them as well.
Immigrants are in a vulnerable position. Demagoguing about invasion and infestation is just too tempting for nativists and opportunists who prey on prejudices for political gain.
Los Angeles has been in the news because of protests that the Trump administration has been trying very hard to depict as a violent conflagration. But the protests have been mostly peaceful by people reasonably objecting to ICE raids. The ICE targets are people who have worked here for years, raising U.S. citizen children and doing the work Americans won’t do.
Despite footage of “violent“ protesters cast as “invaders” faced by brave military troops, California’s governor and many others have noted that there was no widespread, destructive civil unrest, much less the foreign invasion that the demagogues claim justifies military involvement.
Be afraid. We need to stop underestimating the appeal of nativism. It’s real in this country.
But something happened after President Trump’s unwarranted use of the military in Los Angeles and in reaction to his military parade in Washington D.C. (lightly attended, to the president’s dismay).
The “No Kings” protests.
I saw them as solidarity with Immigrant Lives Matter.
Black lives will always matter. After the phrase was coined, some people insisted that it meant other lives mattered less.
Nonsense, then and now.
Immigrant lives matter, as with Black lives, as much as your life does. And if we don’t protect the lives of the people in the crosshairs now, we all could be next.
The U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators emerged from a briefing with federal law enforcement officials Tuesday saying they’ll likely boost funding on safety and security for members and their families in an upcoming government funding bill.
The hour-long briefing by U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate sergeant-at-arms followed the weekend assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband as well as the attempted murder of a state senator and his wife.
The gunman had a list of Democratic elected officials, including members of Congress, and their home addresses, which renewed long-standing security concerns among lawmakers.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., spoke about the shootings during a floor speech shortly after the meeting, pressing for an end to political violence.
“I’m profoundly grateful to local law enforcement that the alleged shooter is in custody and I look forward to seeing him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Thune said. “There is no place for this kind of violence in our country. None.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, said that California Democrat Adam Schiff and Pennsylvania Republican Dave McCormick suggested during the closed-door meeting that Congress bolster funding for member safety.
“The Capitol Police and the sergeant at arms gave a very detailed discussion of how they can protect members here, back in our states, at our homes, in our offices,” Schumer said. “The violence, threats against elected officials, including people in the Senate, has dramatically increased, and that means we need more protection. We need more money.”
The USCP and other law enforcement agencies, Schumer said, are taking some immediate steps to bolster security, though he said “there are other things that will take a little while with more resources.”
Schumer also called on political leaders to be more cautious about how they discuss policy differences.
“The rhetoric that’s encouraging violence is coming from too many powerful people in this country,” Schumer said. “And we need firm, strong denouncement of all violence and violent rhetoric — that should be from the president and from all of the elected officials.”
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Tina Smith called the meeting “very productive,” but didn’t want to elaborate.
“I’m not going to comment any more,” Smith told reporters. “I think it’s important for members’ safety that we don’t talk a lot about what is being done to keep us safe in order to keep us safe.”
Support for funding increase
Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she expects the panel will increase funding for USCP in the bill that covers the upcoming fiscal year.
“I believe we need to do that,” Murray said.
Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said the current situation is “incredibly concerning, gravely concerning.”
“And I appreciate the prompt and thorough bipartisan response,” Coons said.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor in Alabama, said USCP will increase its security measures for members of Congress.
“They’re going to try to do as much as they can, that’s about it,” he said after the briefing. “You know, security at home and here.”
Asked whether there’s a legislative solution or anything lawmakers can do, Oklahoma GOP Sen. James Lankford told reporters “there’s a cultural solution.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich did not go into details about the meeting but said “everybody is having a very robust discussion about the sort of heightened security, dangerous environment we’re all operating in right now and what to do about that, both tactically to meet some of that threat, but also how to reduce the volatility of the environment that we’re in every day.”
The New Mexico Democrat is the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee, which funds USCP and the sergeant at arms.
Asked about boosting USCP funding, Heinrich said this is “an obvious place that lawmakers will look,” but added that senators should be strategic about funding.
“We also just need to be smart and targeted about this,” he said. “There are a lot of things that can be done that don’t require a lot of funding that would reduce the scale of the target that is on the backs of anybody in public office these days.”
A police officer forced out of a suburban Milwaukee department for appearing to skip a lot of work and claiming many questionable comp days is now working for a small-town department in Waukesha County.
Amanda Lang resigned from the Glendale Police Department in 2021 after an internal investigation found she had more than 230 paid hours unaccounted for between 2019 and 2021. At her wage of $40 an hour, those hours added up to $9,300, the investigation noted.
“Based on the discovery of leaving early, along with the substantial number of full shifts not accounted for, one can only wonder how many other times she has left significantly early without documentation,” then-Captain Rhett Fugman wrote in his investigation, which The Badger Project obtained in a records request.
Amanda Lang worked for the Glendale Police Department for more than 13 years before an investigation into her work hours led to an internal investigation and her resignation. (Photo obtained through a records request)
The captain recommended Lang be fired, and she resigned in April of 2021.
She worked for Glendale in the Milwaukee suburbs for more than 13 years, rising to the level of sergeant, before her resignation.
“As a sergeant, additional responsibility and trust was provided to Sgt. Lang,” Fugman wrote. “Her actions and inactions displayed regarding leaving early and posting off time over the last two plus years have displayed a lack of integrity, honesty and trustworthiness.”
“These characteristics are the foundation of what we are as police officers,” he continued.
Lang was hired by the Lannon Police Department later in 2021 and has worked there since.
Lannon Police Chief Daniel Bell said his department “follows rigorous background checks and screening procedures for all new hires to ensure they align with the standards and integrity expected of our officers,” including for Lang.
“During the interview process, we were satisfied with her explanation of the situation,” Bell said of her resignation.
Lang is “consistently demonstrating professionalism, dedication and a strong commitment to community policing,” he added.
She has been promoted to lieutenant, the second in command of the 12-officer department.
Another officer employed by the Lannon Police Department, Nathaniel Schweitzer, was forced out of the police department in the town of Waterford in Racine County late last year. Like Lang, he “resigned prior to the completion of an internal investigation,” according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s database on officers who left a law enforcement position under negative circumstances.
Number of wandering officers in Wisconsin continues to rise
Unsurprisingly, the number of wandering officers, those who were fired or forced out from a previous job in law enforcement, continues to rise. Nearly 400 officers in Wisconsin currently employed were fired or forced out of previous jobs in law enforcement in the state, almost double the amount from 2021. And that doesn’t include officers who were pushed out of law enforcement jobs outside of the state and who came to Wisconsin to work.
Chiefs and sheriffs can be incentivized to hire wandering officers, experts say. Hiring someone new to law enforcement means the police department or sheriff’s office has to pay for recruits’ academy training and then wait for them to finish before they can start putting new hires on the schedule.
A wandering officer already has certification and can start working immediately.
Nearly 2,400 officers in the state have been flagged by their former law enforcement employers as having a “negative separation” since the state DOJ launched its database in 2017.
Most are simply young officers who did not succeed in a new job during their probationary period, when the bar to fire them is very low, experts say. But some have more serious reasons for being pushed out.
Law enforcement agencies can look up job applicants in that database to get more insight into their work history. And a law enacted in 2021 in Wisconsin bans law enforcement officers from sealing their personnel files and work histories, a previously common tactic for officers with a black mark on their record.
About 13,400 law enforcement officers are currently employed in Wisconsin, excluding those who primarily work in a corrections facility, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Wandering officers make up nearly 3% of the total.
At least one major study published in the Yale Law Journal has found that wandering officers are more likely to receive a complaint for a moral character violation, compared to new officers and veterans who haven’t been fired or forced out from a previous position in law enforcement.
Sammie Garrity contributed to this report.
This article first appeared on The Badger Project and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.
Police agencies across the country have different requirements for surveilling officers on the job. While eight states require police to wear body cameras, all but one of them since the 2020 murder of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, Wisconsin leaves the decision up to individual agencies.
Most agencies in the state use either body cameras or dashboard cameras, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Of the 436 agencies surveyed, 88% said they used one or the other, and 48% said they used both.
To request the body-worn or dash camera footage from a police shooting in Wisconsin, you must submit what’s known as a “public records request” to the police agency involved in the shooting. Bodycam footage must be maintained for at least 120 days after being recorded and, for serious incidents, until an investigation or case is resolved.
This can be done with a web search for the agency’s name and “public records” or “records request.” Many agencies have a page with a phone number, email and/or mailing address alongside a form to fill out. General open records letter templates and advice are available at websites such as the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
When filling out the form or submitting the written request for a police shooting video, it’s important to be as detailed as possible about the information you are looking to receive. Ask for body-worn camera and/or dash camera audio-video recordings, and write a detailed summary of the shooting in question. Relevant information can include the date, location and time of the shooting, the people involved and any other case knowledge you have.
How quickly an agency fulfills your request depends on whether your record is “simple” or “complex,” or where it is chronologically in the police agency’s record requests log, depending on the records custodian. At many agencies, the more precise you are with your request, the more likely it is to be categorized as “simple” and completed quickly. Wisconsin law only requires that agencies provide or deny records “as soon as practicable and without delay,” but for simple requests the attorney general has suggested it should be no more than 10 days.
Under a 2024 Wisconsin law, police agencies are allowed to require payment before providing video to cover the cost of redacting, pixelating and/or editing it for privacy. Individual requesters must attest that they do not plan to use the footage for financial gain, or face a flat $10,000 fine.
In at least one case, a police agency has threatened to fine a reporter for sharing requested footage with a news publication though ultimately apologized and never went through with it. WFIC President Bill Lueders said he has never heard of a police agency actually levying fines against requesters.
“If push comes to shove, I think (the issue) would probably end up in the courts and maybe (the law) would be struck down. But push has not come to shove,” Lueders said.
Finally, though anyone can request police bodycam footage under the public records law, the state allows police agencies to deny the request if they demonstrate how “harm done to the public interest by disclosure outweighs the right of access to public records.”
Should this occur with your request, you may go to court and ask for the record’s release. Wisconsin law stipulates that you may also request the attorney general or district attorney of the county where the record took place to go to court on your behalf, but Lueders said he could “probably count on one hand” the amount of times this has been done in the past 20 years.
Wisconsin Watch readers have submitted questions to our statehouse team, and we’ll answer them in our series, Ask Wisconsin Watch. Have a question about state government? Ask it here.
A school bus driver in Greenville, Michigan, stopped a stranger from entering a school bus through the rear emergency exit while several students were on board, reported Fox 17.
The incident reportedly occurred Thursday, when a Flat River Academy school bus was transporting students to school. A 17-year-old grabbed the rear emergency door handle while the bus was stopped at a light in an attempt to enter the vehicle.
According to the news report, when the bus started to move the teen was able to get the door open, setting off the emergency door alarm. That’s when the driver stopped the school bus and ran to the back to figure out what was happening.
The driver, who was not identified in this writing, confronted the teen as he was trying to climb into the bus and used his foot to bar entrance and then to close the door.
The Michigan State Police said troppers were already in pursuit of the teen prior to the incident and took him into custody at the scene. The teen is believed to have been involved in the vandalism of a nearby business.
The teen, who has autism, was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The teen had left his home without his family’s knowledge. The students and staff on board the school bus were not injured during the incident and the driver was able to finish his route without further interruption.
An irate South Carolina father is being accused of running a school bus with 19 student passengers off the road after authorities say his child was allegedly assaulted by a school bus monitor.
The Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on May 23 confirming that two individuals had been charged in connection with a physical altercation involving a student on a school bus the day before.
According to the statement, allegations were brought forward from statements obtained by the Marlboro County School District officials from students on the bus, indicating that bus monitor Sharona Ford Cooper had physically assaulted a student after the student refused to remain seated in assigned seating.
Authorities added that Cooper was \charged with third-degree assault after utilizing her arm to restrain the student from moving down the school bus aisle, as depicted in the video from the school bus monitoring system obtained by law enforcement.
Police stated that shortly after the incident, Anthony Chavis, the father of the student, arrived at the school and became verbally abusive toward administrators and law enforcement staff, using profanity, racial slurs and physical intimidation.
Chavis’ children had been removed from the school bus and left on the school grounds. Once the school bus departed and continued its route to transport 19 other students home, Chavis followed the school bus in his vehicle with his five children as passengers and then forced the bus off the road. He exited his vehicle and struck the bus numerous times with his fist in an unsuccessful effort to gain entry, causing damage to the door.
According to authorities, as the school bus driver continued the route,circumventing Chavis’s car, the father threw an object at the back of the bus and damaged the window. The incident was captured on the school bus video.
Chief Deputy Larry Turner said Chavis was charged with interfering with operations of a school bus, child endangerment, threatening the life of a public official, aggravated breach of peace, malicious injury to government property, and disruption of a school. He was taken into custody and was denied bond, as he was already out on bond for an assault charge at the time of this arrest.
The Cybertrucks will be deployed across tourist hotspots during the World Cup.
These are believed to be the first Tesla Cybertruck police vehicles in the country.
Police in Texas announced earlier this year they will soon receive 10 Cybertrucks.
With just over a year until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, authorities in the Mexican state of Jalisco are already gearing up for the massive soccer event. They’ve recently added three specially outfitted Tesla Cybertruck patrol vehicles to their fleet, which will be deployed in high-traffic tourist areas during the tournament.
One of these Cybertrucks was recently taken out onto the local city streets and tailed by a pair of F-Series trucks that police are also using. The local mayor, Pablo Lemus Navarro, is keen to maximize safety during the World Cup, although the expensive purchases do seem to have upset some locals.
The Tesla truck rocks a matte black wrap complete with all the necessary police livery. Flashing red and blue lights have also been neatly incorporated into the front and rear bumpers, as well as the side skirts. Local police have yet to release any photos of the Cybertruck’s cabin, but it’s likely also been modified with all the necessary equipment needed to patrol the streets and target criminals.
These Cybertrucks form just a small part of a much larger fleet of new vehicles that the state is introducing.
Governor Navarro has big plans to improve security in the region ahead of the World Cup. “We also need to work a lot on the perception of security; we are going to deliver 678 patrol cars for the State Police, State Highway Police, and State Police, including some ‘Black Mambas,’ which are this kind of tanks,” he said.
Mexico isn’t alone in adopting the Cybertruck for law enforcement. Earlier this year, Las Vegas announced it would receive 10 of the trucks, thanks to an anonymous donor. Some of these will be put into service with SWAT teams, while others will simply patrol the streets. Who knows? Maybe other cities will soon follow suit.
The 2026 World Cup is set to run from June 11 to July 19 across 16 host cities in the US, Mexico, and Canada, featuring 48 teams. While Jalisco’s decision to roll out high-tech, bulletproof Cybertruck patrol vehicles might look impressive on paper, it also raises questions about whether this extravagant spending is really the most effective use of resources for an event of this scale.
@prensaxtremard El Gobierno de Jalisco presentó esta semana las nuevas patrullas Tesla Cybertruck, blindadas con acero grado balístico y equipadas con inteligencia artificial, cámaras 360°, conexión en tiempo real con centros de mando y acceso directo a bases de datos de órdenes de aprehensión. Estas unidades, capaces de resistir impactos de alto calibre, formarán parte del operativo especial de seguridad previo al Mundial 2026, que tendrá a Guadalajara como una de sus sedes. Además del uso de tecnología de punta, se anunció la instalación de 1,500 nuevas cámaras de videovigilancia en más de 300 puntos estratégicos del estado, incluyendo carreteras hacia Guanajuato, Colima y Michoacán. También se sumarán 678 nuevas patrullas. Para seguir informado, síguenos en #rotativodemexico 📰🌐 #Jalisco#Cybertruck#Tesla#Mundial2026#Seguridad#Guadalajara#Tecnología#FIFA2026♬ sonido original – PRENSA XTREMA RD ✅️
Parents are raising serious concerns after two underage girls wanted for armed robbery boarded a Rio Grande High School bus in Albuquerque’s South Valley and entered the campus, resulting in a lockdown, reported KOAT 7.
The incident occurred May 15, when the unidentified girls managed to board the school bus, entered the high school campus, and hid in a second-floor bathroom stall before being discovered by staff and escorted out.
According to the news report, the girls fled on foot but were quickly apprehended by Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies, who confirmed that both girls had outstanding warrants for armed robbery and were facing additional charges from Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) police.
A letter sent to parents explained the timeline of events and how students had reported seeing to “suspicious females” on campus. This report prompted staff to initiate a “shelter in place” protocol, securing classrooms while searching the building.
Parents told local news reporters that they wondered how the girls managed to get on the school undetected. APS told reporters that the incident should not have happened. Additionally, the school districtc stated that school bus drivers are required to contact dispatch via radio when hey encounter an unfamiliar student, to verify the child’s name, address, school and other relevant details. It is unclear if the driver of the bus involved in the incident is facing any consequences for not following protocol.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said suspects are expected to face new charges in addition to their other warrants. As questions are left unanswered, parents demand more transparency from APS and its transportation providers.
Protesters gather to march in Wauwatosa alongside the families of Antonio Gonzales, Jay Anderson Jr., and Alvin Cole in 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Update:Rep. Shae Sortwell issued a statement Wednesday morning disputing claims from Democratic Reps Ryan Clancy and Andrew Hysell that the riot bill was taken off the Assembly’s executive agenda. Sortwell accused Clancy and Hysell of “spreading misinformation” regarding the bill.
“To be clear, the chair never pulled the bill because he has not officially scheduled a vote on it yet after receiving a hearing two weeks ago. I am in discussions with colleagues on the committee, which is standard practice for bill authors after a public hearing. I ask both Democrat representatives to brush up on legislative policy on how bills actually move.”
Wednesday afternoon Rep. Ron Tusler, who chairs the assembly committee, which held public hearings on the riot bill, wrote in an email statement to Wisconsin Examiner that the riot bill needs work before it can be scheduled.
Tusler wrote that the bill “is not on the agenda because, in its current form, it fails to be good legislation. I wanted to give the bill author a chance to explain the bill out of respect for Representative Sortwell and the victims of riots. But in its current form, this bill has constitutional, common-sense, and enforcement issues. Assembly Bill 88, as it exists now, was never going to be scheduled for an executive session until those problems were/are addressed.”
A Republican-sponsored bill that would have defined a riot as a gathering of at least three people that could pose a threat of property damage or injury has been removed from the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s executive session agenda. The bill has been criticized for being overly broad, and potentially chilling First Amendment protections of protest and free speech. Besides defining a riot, the bill also exposed accused rioters and riot organizers to felony charges and civil liability including restitution for attorneys’ fees and property damage, and carried a prohibition on government officials with authority over law enforcement from limiting an agency’s response to quell unrest.
Rep. Andrew Hysell (D- Sun Prairie), a member of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, said that he criticized the bill because it “actually weakens existing law for the very people it was supposed to help.” The committee held a public hearing on the bill on May 7, at which a large number of Wisconsinites voiced opposition to the bill. Rep. Shae Sortwell (R- Two Rivers), one of the bill’s authors, testified in favor of the bill, saying that it’s needed to prevent protests from spinning out of control into riots, property destruction, and injury. Sortwell and other republican supporters of the bill referenced protests and unrest in 2020 in Kenosha and Madison.
Among those who testified against the bill was Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee). Like other critics, Clancy said the bill was written vaguely in order to be applied broadly to crack down on protest movements. “While myself and many of my Democratic colleagues are tired of wasting our time and our constituents’ resources on badly written, unconstitutional bills like AB-88, I’m ecstatic that Republicans have abandoned this one for now,” Clancy said in a statement after the bill was shelved by the Assembly committee. “It’s clear that passionate, thoughtful testimony from the public, free speech advocates and civil rights experts – along with excellent technical critiques from Rep. Andrew Hysell – has stopped this so-called ‘anti-riot’ bill dead in its tracks.”
Clancy added that “in reality, however, this isn’t an ‘anti-riot’ bill: it’s a threat to free speech, expression and assembly disguised as a public safety measure. Thankfully, it’s now unlikely to move forward this session.”
During the May 7 committee hearing where people spoke either in favor of or against the bill, one person wore a hat which used an expletive to denounce President Donald Trump. Committee Chair Ron Tusler (R- Harrison) demanded that the man remove the hat because it was offensive. Tusler threatened to have law enforcement remove the man, and called the hearing into recess. Later, when the hearing continued, the man was allowed to continue wearing the hat. Clancy told Tusler his emotional reaction to the hat and his impulse to call for police was an example of how a broad, penalty-heavy bill for protests like AB-88 is a bad idea.
In his statement, Clancy urged his colleagues to spend “less time trying to dismantle our rights and getting angry at rude hats” and more time “addressing the actual needs of Wisconsin residents. Until that changes, we must all remain vigilant to fight back their next, terrible idea.”
This article has been updated to add a statement from Rep. Shae Sortwell accusing Reps Ryan Clancy and Andrew Hysell of spreading misinformation about why the bill was taken off the executive session agenda. The article was updated again Wednesday afternoon with Committee Chair Rep. Ron Tusler’s statement regarding the riot bill. It has also been edited to correct Rep. Ron Tusler’s last name.
A former Susquenita School District bus driver in Pennsylvania is facing charges after being accused of allegedly inappropriately touching elementary age students on the school bus for over six months, reported ABC 27.
John Joseph Straining, 50, was reportedly arrested by State Police at New Port and is facing 25 felony charges, including three counts each of felony institutional sexual assault, indecent assault of a minor under 13 and unlawful contact with a minor, among others.
According to the news report, two Susquenita Elementary School students reported that Straining, known to them as “Mr. John,” would tickle juvenile girls on the school bus despite being told to stop.
Upon investigation, police learned that Straining tickled multiple male and female third and fourth grade students, including tickling girls’ chests and thighs.
Police said surveillance video on the school bus showed these interactions occurring between last October and April of this year.
Rohrer Bus Company, the contractor Suquenita uses for transportation, reportedly fired Straining April 14.
A group of ten Fiat 500e models has joined the Greek police force in Athens..
The electric hatch sports a police livery, strobe lights, and a 117 hp motor.
The small EV has a rear suicide door on one side for easier access to the backseat.
Over the years, police forces have adopted vehicles from nearly every segment imaginable. While some divisions require fast pursuit cars, others need smaller, more nimble vehicles to maneuver through busy urban areas. The Greek police recently received 10 fully electric Fiat 500e units, now patrolling the narrow streets of Athens.
These EVs were gifted to the Greek police by DEI (Public Electric Power Corporation), which, despite sharing its name with the buzzword-heavy acronym for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is actually just about ensuring your car stays charged, not that it’s inclusive of all power sources. Along with the cars, DEI also threw in 36 charging stations, proving they’re really invested in making sure the only thing running low in this partnership is the battery.
Naturally, the Fiat 500e now sports the classic Greek police livery, complete with iridescent blue decals on its white body and strobe lights atop the roof. The headlight graphics and hubcaps hint that this is the base-spec model, not the fully-loaded La Prima trim.
What is interesting, is that the procurement department chose the Fiat 500e 3+1 bodystyle, which features an additional rear-hinged door on the passenger side. While Fiat initially designed this asymmetrical layout for easier access to the backseat for young families, in this case, it may prove more useful for transporting suspects, provided they can squeeze into the tiny Fiat, of course.
Not Exactly a Pursuit Car
The 500e police cars are equipped with the standard electric motor, delivering 117 horsepower (87 kW / 118 PS) and 220 Nm (162 lb-ft) of torque. This setup allows the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) sprint in 9 seconds, which should be more than adequate for urban patrols. If performance were the top priority, however, the fleet might have included at least one Abarth 500e.
More importantly, the 42 kWh battery pack offers a WLTP range of 321 km (199 miles) between charges, or up to 460 km (286 miles) in urban environments. In our review of the 500e, we noticed that real-life range is closer to 260 km (162 miles), but even this will be more than enough for patrolling the city center of the Greek capital.
Not the Slowest Greek Police Car
Surprisingly, the Fiat 500e isn’t the smallest or slowest vehicle in the Greek police fleet. That dubious honor goes to the Citroen Ami, a heavy quadricycle that’s been cycling patrolling the streets of Chalki Island since late 2021, as part of a sustainable mobility initiative.
Beyond the electric vehicles, Greek police officers have access to a broad range of cars, from the Seat Leon and Hyundai i30 to the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, and Peugeot 308. They also have a variety of larger vehicles, including the Nissan Navara and Skoda Octavia.
Recent additions to the police fleet with a performance-focused character include the Hyundai i30 N and Cupra Leon VZ hot hatches, designed for performing highway pursuits and tackling illegal street racing.
Despite its role as the electric flagship for Fiat, the 500e has not been the sales success that Stellantis had hoped for. As a result, Fiat has shifted focus, moving away from an all-EV lineup and introducing a mild-hybrid version, the 500 Ibrida, which is expected to debut later this year. Additionally, Fiat has confirmed that a new generation of the 500 will arrive in 2032, with production set to take place at their Mirafiori plant in Italy.
A Hyundai Ioniq 5 sat unrepaired for weeks due to ICCU failure and parts shortage.
Thieves stole the EV from the dealer, fled police, and crashed it into a church.
Insurance declared vehicle totaled leaving the owner concerned about financial losses.
Sometimes your car just breaks. Other times, it breaks, sits for two months, gets stolen, wrecked, and leaves you holding the bag. This is the story of how one Hyundai Ioniq 5 owner’s unlucky repair turned into a cautionary tale about EV parts, dealership security, and what happens when everything goes wrong at once.
On March 16, nearly two months ago, Massachusetts resident Ethan Blount’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 abruptly stopped working. The culprit was the ICCU, a part already known for causing problems in the Ioniq 5 lineup. It failed, leaving Blount stranded, and he had the car towed to his local dealership.
At the time, he had no idea it would be the last time he’d see the vehicle in one piece. On May 2, the car was stolen from the dealership. When police eventually located it and gave chase, the situation ended with the Hyundai totaled and Blount left underwater.
A Part With a Pattern of Failure
But let’s rewind. The ICCU (Integrated Charging Control Unit) plays a central role in the Ioniq 5’s electrical system. It manages the bi-directional charging between the 12V battery and the main high-voltage battery, which is responsible for powering essential systems, external devices, and even other EVs.
When it fails, the result is a completely immobilized vehicle. Dozens of Ioniq 5 owners have reported similar failures. In Blount’s case, the delay in repair came down to a parts shortage, with replacements on back order. So his EV sat, unusable and unguarded, for almost two months.
He tells The Autopian that he knew about the ICCU and suspected it immediately when he heard a loud pop. “I got only a mile or so before power started dropping precipitously, and pulled off the main road just in time. I contacted Hyundai and they dispatched a tow truck, taking my car to the nearest dealer,” says Ethan.
A Strange Notification, Then Silence
Then, on May 1, he received a notification via his Hyundai mobile app that the car was left on and idling. Good news, he thought, since it couldn’t do that without being fixed. The next day, everything fell apart. The dealer called and confirmed that the car was fixed but, strangely, they couldn’t find it.
Ethan whipped out his phone and tracked the car. It was in Boston, nowhere near the dealership. He called the police who tried to move in and secure the car, but clearly that didn’t work. The occupants sped off in it, ultimately lost control a short time later, hit a fire hydrant, and then smashed into a church. The impact was such that the Ioniq 5 was seriously damaged. The airbags all deployed, and the front is completely smashed in.
Boston police arrested three people at the scene, but they’ve left Blount in a tough spot. “Due to the rapid depreciation of the car I’m worried about what I will be offered by my insurance company since they declared it totaled today,” he said. “I fear I could end up still owing money and not even owning a car.”
In a positive turn though, Hyundai reached out to him two days ago, promising to help. Perhaps this entire saga will end up with the happy ending Blount clearly wants.
A Wauwatosa police squad on the scene of a non-fatal officer-involved shooting. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
The State Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary held a public hearing Wednesday to discuss a bill which, if passed, would restrict the use of John Doe hearings in cases where prosecutors decline to charge police officers after deadly force incidents. Republicans and law enforcement supporters of the bill (AB-34) said officers need to be protected from repeated investigations, and that anti-police groups have abused Wisconsin’s John Doe law to harass innocent officers who’ve been involved in civilian deaths. A long line of attorneys, legislators, social workers and others spoke in opposition to the bill, arguing that it adds to an array of legal privileges and protections police already enjoy.
Wisconsin’s John Doe law allows for a judge to be petitioned to review a case where prosecutors have already decided not to file charges. Once a John Doe hearing has been called, the judge may hear arguments from the petitioner as to why probable cause should be found that a crime was committed. If the judge agrees that probable cause does indeed exist, then special prosecutors may be appointed by the judge to review the case. Those prosecutors, however, ultimately decide whether charges will be pursued, regardless of whether a judge finds probable cause of a crime.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Rep. Clint Moses (R-Menomonie), an author of the bill, said the law had been used to “unfairly target” two officers who’ve been involved in deadly incidents. Former Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah killed Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016, claiming that Anderson lunged for a gun on the passenger seat of his vehicle. Anderson was the second person Mensah had killed in a year. He was involved in a total of three fatal shootings over his five year career at Wauwatosa PD. Mensah left Wauwatosa PD in late 2020 and was hired by the Waukesha County Sheriffs Department, where he is a detective.
In 2021, a John Doe hearing was called to review Anderson’s shooting, after which Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Glenn Yamahiro found probable cause existed to charge Mensah with homicide by negligent use of a dangerous weapon. The second John Doe hearing, started in 2023, focused on Madison police officer Matthew Kenney for the 2019 killing of 19-year-old Toney Robinson. A judge declined to allow the hearing to go forward.
“After the investigations, the court confirmed that he had acted in self-defense,” Moses said of the John Doe hearing in Anderson’s case. Mensah’s John Doe hearing “mirrored” reviews done by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, and Wauwatosa PD, he said. “It’s concerning that such investigations, which echo previous exhaustions, can be perpetuated, consuming significant time and resources,” said Moses.
While speaking Wednesday, Moses incorrectly referenced Mensah’s 2015 shooting as being the reason for the John Doe hearing in 2021. “Officer Mensah used self-defense to protect himself while on the job in a situation in 2015,” Moses testified on Wednesday. In 2015, Mensah killed 29-year-old Antonio Gonzales while still in his probationary period at Wauwatosa PD. Neither Gonzales, nor Mensah’s third fatal shooting of Alvin Cole in 2020, were the subjects of John Doe hearings.
Last year, when the bill was first introduced, Moses joined Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) in claiming that families of people killed by police were seeking vengeance against officers. Moses confused details of Mensah’s shootings during those hearings as well. When asked about the mix up, Moses admitted to Wisconsin Examiner that he had not closely followed the Mensah cases.
Rep. Clint Moses (Wisconsin Legislature)
As Moses testified on Wednesday, Hutton joined him in the committee room. Hutton, who has brought forward Senate versions of the bill, has said that although he’s taken extensive feedback from law enforcement about the bill, he has not reached out to the families of people killed by police. During a hearing in February, Mensah testified in favor of the bill.
Mark Sette, vice president of the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, said the bill is “crucial” and that law enforcement “have both the duty and right” to use deadly force to protect themselves or others. Sette said that police must make split second decisions in high-stress circumstances, and that deadly use of force incidents “are rare”. Sette praised Wisconsin’s process of conducting reviews of deadly force incidents led by an outside agency, saying that the investigations are thorough. Sette said that repeated investigations prevent officers from moving on with their lives, and trap them in a cycle of psychological trauma and financial stress.
West Allis Police Chief Patrick Mitchell, a former president and current legislative chair of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, also praised the investigative process. Mitchell pointed to the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT) as an example of how thorough reviews of deadly force incidents by police can be.
Not everyone was sold on the bill, however. Rep. Andrew Hysell questioned Sette and Mitchell about whether or not it’s possible for a district attorney to make a mistake in clearing an officer of wrongdoing. Sette said although it’s possible, that it’s “incredibly unlikely” because of the thoroughness of deadly force investigations. Hysell said that district attorneys aren’t infallible, and that the bill — if passed — would set in stone a prosecutor’s decision, and deny one legal avenue for families of people killed by police.
Detective Joseph Mensah (right) testifies before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
After Moses, Sette, and Mitchell came numerous people from a variety of backgrounds voicing opposition to the bill. Gregory Jones, vice president of the Wisconsin NAACP and president of the organization’s Dane County branch, urged lawmakers to dig deep, ask tough questions, and consider all aspects of how the bill could negatively impact civil rights and the pursuit of justice.
Amanda Merkwae, advocacy director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin, stressed that the bill takes away judicial discretion and elevates law enforcement as a privileged class above all other citizens. Merkwae noted that prosecutors and law enforcement have close working relationships, and that district attorneys often rely on the very officers whose actions they’d need to review when citizens are killed.
The advocacy director also cited investigations by MAIT, citing an investigation by Wisconsin Examiner in partnership with Type Investigations, which reviewed 17 MAIT investigations from 2019-2022, all of which resulted in no charges against officers. Merkwae listed the article’s findings including that officers who kill citizens are interviewed as witnesses or victims only, can refuse to have their interviews recorded, and may amend their statements after viewing video evidence. In several MAIT investigations, officers were not separated from one another to prevent statement contamination despite this being a required policy.
Mensah and other officers provided contradictory statements and were not separated from one another after his third shooting. These facts were raised during a federal civil trial into Alvin Cole’s death earlier this year. The trial ended in a hung jury, with jurors unable to unanimously agree on whether Mensah’s killing of Cole was excessive.
Jay Anderson Sr. (left) and Linda Anderson (right), the parents of Jay Anderson Jr. in 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Merkwae said that last year, Wisconsin had 24 fatal police encounters, up from 14 incidents the prior year. “So by creating a separate standard for police officers, this bill sends the message that they are above the law,” said Merkwae. “Which, I think, is a dangerous precedent that erodes trust and makes community engagement with law enforcement more fraught and less effective.”
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) also spoke in opposition. Clancy said that he hadn’t planned to speak on the bill, but decided to when he heard Mensah’s name being used. “The idea that an officer who killed three people in three different incidents is a poster boy for why this is good legislation rather than bad is mindblowing to me,” said Clancy. “Joseph Mensah serves as an example of how our current system is failing the people that it is designed to protect. Had Joseph Mensah been held accountable after the first time he shot and killed somebody, he wouldn’t have shot and killed a second and a third person, in three different incidents. And it is sickening to me that he was brought up as an example of how this is necessary because he feels that some folks are mean to him in trying to find some measure of accountability.”
More people rose to speak against the bill after Clancy. Some were social workers and medical staff, who recounted being spat on, punched, kicked, scratched, and hurt yet never once considering criminally charging the person who hurt them. It’s a privilege that police officers have which they do not, the speakers argued. At one point, a Wisconsinite who wished to be identified only as G. Lee attempted to testify while wearing a hat that used an obscenity to criticize President Donald Trump. Committee Chair Ron Tusler (R-Harrison) called the hat offensive and got into an argument with Lee, after which he called for the assistance of the Capitol Police and called the committee into recess.
Wauwatosa Police Department squad cars responding during a standoff with protesters on July 7, 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
When the hearing re-started, G. Lee was allowed to testify on AB-34 while wearing the hat, though he was warned any breaches of decorum would result in him being removed. Lee apologized that the hat “threatened or offended” Tusler, and stated that Tusler reacted from a position of power. Comparing that to the powers police have, Lee said “what scares me about the decorum set in this room, and the measure tied to this bill, is about power.”
Lee, speaking directly to Tusler, said that when the hearing was stopped because of Tusler’s feelings, “One of my concerns here is that we are privileging the feelings of law enforcement over the feelings of families who’ve actually lost loved ones to bullets. That’s an important thing to consider here. The whole system is set up to protect a particular part of the state power, and you’ve used your state power to make a message.”
This article has been edited to correct a misspelling of Menomonie, represented by Rep. Clint Moses.
A Wilmington teen diagnosed with autism was found safe after a New Hanover County school bus driver helped police locate the boy, reported WRAL News.
According to the article, bus driver Marie Murphy and her monitor Valeria Davis were picking up students April 25 during their normal route when Davis received a notification on her cell phone.
Davis told local news reporters that the WECT app, which provides local news alerts, notified her that a teenager was missing around the Wilmington area.
Davis showed the update to Murphy, and they realized the 14-year-old often rode their school bus. The teen was reported missing at midnight, and the Wilmington Police officers had spent five hours looking for him that morning.
After seeing the boy’s picture, Murphy and Davis were on the lookout as well. Murphy told local news reporters that it made her think of her own kids.
During their last school bus stop, the women reportedly saw the teen standing with a friend on the side of a street. They tried talking to the teen about the incident but all he said was that he wanted to go to school.
Davis and Murphyc contacted their supervisors, Laura Sebert and Stacy Greene, who called 911. Murphy drove the teen to New Hanover High School, where police met them. The reasons for the teen’s disappearance remain unclear.
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The city and county of Eau Claire recently asked Attorney General Josh Kaul to weigh in on the legality of police officers dropping off homeless people outside their jurisdiction.
Their request for an opinion cited several examples, including the Durand Police Department, which transported a woman in handcuffs to a city homeless shelter that has been over capacity and at risk of reducing beds.
The story includes interviews with the Durand police chief and the mayor of Santa Cruz, California, which recently outlawed the dropping off of homeless people without prior communication and a plan for helping the person find a housing solution.
On Oct. 27, a Durand police officer responded to a suspicious person call. He made contact with a woman who had committed no crimes but had nowhere to stay on a cold night.
She told the officer she was from Fargo, North Dakota, and waiting for a ride, but couldn’t explain how she arrived in Durand.
When that ride didn’t show, the officer asked if she had a credit card, which local hotels require homeless individuals to put down when using a motel voucher to stay overnight. She said she didn’t and didn’t know what to do.
There are no homeless shelters in Durand or Pepin County.
The officer then suggested she go to Sojourner House, a shelter in Eau Claire about 40 minutes away. She agreed to be transported in handcuffs, in accordance with what the officer said was department policy. He called several other shelters in communities outside of Durand, all of which were full for the night. Sojourner House didn’t answer, but he offered the woman a ride there anyway. She asked if the shelter was open.
“It’s hard to say. Once I get you up there, they might not even have a bed for you to go,” the officer told her, according to body cam footage obtained by Wisconsin Watch. “Once you get up there, ask them for resources — see what else is available to you up there.”
The officer dropped her off and left without contacting the shelter staff or Eau Claire city officials.
According to Eau Claire County Corporation Counsel Sharon McIlquham and City Attorney Stephen Nick, the shelter was full, and Eau Claire city police later took the woman to a hospital. She then had a run-in with UW-Eau Claire police for indecent exposure.
“They still found themselves homeless in an unfamiliar community and committed crimes — had to get medical attention,” Nick told Wisconsin Watch, referring to multiple people who have been dropped off in Eau Claire. “So not a good outcome for them or our community.”
But what started as a conflict between local agencies is now a legal question being posed to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul: Should police departments in Wisconsin be allowed to transport someone experiencing homelessness out of their jurisdiction?
Body cam footage obtained by Wisconsin Watch shows a rural police officer trying — and failing — to connect a homeless woman with support services. Reporters Hallie Claflin and Trisha Young discuss what’s happening in the footage and what it illustrates about the specific challenges of addressing rural homelessness.
Nick said the problem has persisted for years in Eau Claire and extends far beyond the three examples cited in his January letter to the attorney general, asking his office to weigh in on the legality of these drop-offs.
“This is the first time we’ve received a communication along these lines, certainly since I’ve been attorney general,” Kaul told reporters at WQOW. “But I can say more broadly, some of the issues raised are ones that I think are true around the state.”
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said the drop-offs display a need for more rural resources.
The letter pointed to instances of homeless individuals from neighboring counties being dropped off in Eau Claire by other agencies including the Menomonie Police Department and the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office. McIlquham and Nick called it “a practice driven by a lack of good options,” but said the drop-offs are “unlawful at worst and unprofessional at best.”
“None of the individuals we referenced actually received care, and that is the most common outcome from these sort of transports,” Nick said.
Durand Police Chief Stanley Ridgeway said if his department is barred from carrying out these kinds of transports, the city’s human services department would have to pay other agencies or organizations to transport those in need of shelter. He added that rural communities like Durand lack rideshare services, public transportation or homeless shelters.
“In the end, it will increase our cost,” Ridgeway said. “Our hands will be tied.”
A statewide problem
The situation is not unique to Eau Claire. Police chiefs in Waukesha, Green Bay and Appleton told Wisconsin Watch they have dealt with a similar problem.
“For as long as I can remember, we have struggled with people from outside the Fox Valley coming to this area to utilize this invaluable resource,” Appleton Police Chief Polly Olson said. “We know they … may be given rides by other, outside law enforcement, or they find out through word of mouth about the shelters and resources in this area.”
Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis told Wisconsin Watch these drop-offs happen occasionally, but he has asked agencies outside the county not to transport people because it strains local resources and makes it difficult for the homeless to return to their city of origin.
Drop-offs are also prevalent in Waukesha, with unhoused individuals coming from surrounding areas like Delafield, Hartland, Chenequa, Pewaukee and New Berlin. But Chief Daniel Thompson said the issue is complicated because the city is a hub for resources such as hospitals, mental health clinics, trauma centers, charitable organizations and shelters.
He said it makes sense that people experiencing homelessness in smaller, rural jurisdictions would come to Waukesha for services because their own communities often don’t have any.
But it’s a problem when other municipalities drop their homeless off in Waukesha simply because they don’t want to deal with them. This is particularly a problem at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Thompson said.
In December, Wisconsin Watch reported that the state’s estimated homeless population has been rising since 2021, following national trends. It rose from 4,861 on a single night in 2023 to 5,037 in 2024. In rural Wisconsin, the increase was 9%, according to the annual homeless count.
Despite accounting for over 60% of the state’s homeless population in 2023, every Wisconsin county besides Milwaukee, Dane and Racine collectively contained just 23% of the state’s long-term housing with on-site supportive services, which experts say is the best way to address chronic homelessness.
‘Only because we have such poor options’
Police departments in Durand and Menomonie quickly responded to the letter sent to the attorney general, emphasizing the transports were voluntary. Police footage from both departments confirms the officers didn’t coerce the individuals, but did suggest the destination. Neither individual knew where Eau Claire was.
“They’re not looking to come here, they’re being asked if they want to come here,” Nick said. “When that’s being done by a uniformed police officer — that changes the circumstances quite a bit in terms of how voluntary that is.”
In the letter, McIlquham and Nick cited another example in which they say a woman who was a frequent source of contact for St. Croix County sheriff’s officers was dropped off at a gas station in Eau Claire without receiving any services. Eau Claire EMS, the county sheriff’s office and the city police department later responded to multiple complaints regarding the individual, who did not have ties to Eau Claire.
St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson described the incident to WEAU as a “courtesy ride.” He did not respond to Wisconsin Watch’s interview request.
“I feel bad for Eau Claire that the facilities that we have available to us are in their jurisdiction, so sometimes they have to deal with the aftermath,” said Ridgeway, the Durand police chief. “But it happens a lot. That’s where the services are.”
Ridgeway told Wisconsin Watch the Durand Police Department will continue this practice as long as the attorney general allows it, adding that his department is not responsible for crimes these individuals may commit in Eau Claire. Asked how those individuals get back to where they came from, Ridgeway said that’s “out of our control.”
“These facilities receive funding from the federal government, state government, grants, donations — they’re not just receiving funding from Eau Claire County residents or city of Eau Claire residents,” Ridgeway said. “This is a service for all of western Wisconsin, and we’re going to take advantage of that service whenever we can.”
He defended the decision to drop a woman off in front of a shelter that was either full or not open.
“You might not tonight have a place, but they can tell you what time they open tomorrow so you can be in line to get services,” Ridgeway said. “We’ll continue to call and try to get a bed verified as being available, but if a person wants to be dropped off there, we’ll do so.”
In a March 11 press release, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse said it is facing a potential decision to reduce Sojourner House’s operations from year-round to just six months, citing a loss of funding and a shortage of volunteers.
On one night in January, Dale Karls of the Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council told WEAU, Sojourner House, which has a normal capacity of 53, opened overflow spaces and housed 77 people.
Nick said he doesn’t doubt the officers were trying to help these people, “but the message needs to get out that they weren’t helped.” There’s been a growing need for homeless services since the pandemic as temporary services and funding have been rolled back, he said.
In the state’s 2023-25 biennial budget, the Republican-controlled Legislature rejected Evers’ recommendations to spend $24 million on emergency shelter and housing grants, as well as homeless case management services and rental assistance for unhoused veterans.
The Legislature also nixed $250 million Evers proposed for affordable workforce housing and home rehabilitation grants.
This year, Evers recommended another $24 million for homeless prevention programs in the 2025-27 state budget. Republican lawmakers who control the powerful budget committee vowed to throw out the governor’s budget and start from scratch this spring.
“The issue here is the disinvestment by the state and needed resources regionally,” Nick said. “It’s a law enforcement issue, but only because we have such poor options.”
A California city has outlawed the practice
In 2024, the city of Santa Cruz, California, outlawed the practice of transporting homeless people into the city without authorization. Mayor Fred Keeley told Wisconsin Watch the local ordinance has pressured surrounding communities to ramp up their own resources for the homeless.
The drop-off ban was sparked by an incident last summer when Hanford police drove a homeless woman with a disability nearly 200 miles to Santa Cruz — a city similar in size to Eau Claire — and left her outside a local shelter.
“I know that for decades, other cities in our county bring people and dump them in the city of Santa Cruz,” Keeley said. “Nobody should do this to us because we would never do it to you without a prior conversation.”
Keeley said these drop-offs almost never solve someone’s housing problem and instead shift the responsibility to another city. Santa Cruz is sympathetic to smaller municipalities with limited resources that are willing to coordinate with the city to arrange a transport, Keeley said, but that person should have some community ties.
Keeley said the city’s investments in permanent supportive housing and other programs have reduced the city’s street homelessness by more than 50% in the last two years.
Now, a bill has been introduced in the California Legislature that would ban local law enforcement agencies from transporting homeless individuals to another jurisdiction without first coordinating shelter or long-term housing for them. Keeley said he’s glad the issue is being taken up at the state level.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
A 6-year-old boy died from his injuries after he was hit by a school bus in New Orleans, Louisiana, reported 4WWL News.
The incident reportedly occurred the morning of April 10 when the student, identified as Mayson Richards, exited his mother’s car in attempt to board a school bus. However, he was struck by the bus that was transporting 27 passengers at the time of the incident. Richards was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries not long after. None of the passengers had any reported injuries.
According to the news report, family members at the scene were the ones who identified Richards. He was a student at KIPP Leadership charter school, and his death left his family and community devasted.
Police told local news reporters that the school bus driver, who was not identified in this writing, opened the door to pick up passengers, once everyone had boarded the doors closed and the driver began to drive forward while checking the side view mirrors. When the driver saw Richards’ mother run from her car and pick up Richards who was lying in the street, that’s when the driver realized the child had been hit by the bus.
Authorities say via the news report that the bus driver, who remained at the scene and showed no signs of impairment, did not see Richards running to the front of the bus due to his short height.
A representative of JJ Julien Transportation, the company that owns the school bus, told local news reporters that the driver was a “great driver” and has been with the company “for a while.” However, the driver has not been working since the crash.
Richard’s family opened a GoFundMe account to help alleviate the cost of the funeral.
A man in Greenville, South Carolina was arrested and charged with arson after allegedly damaging several school buses.
The Greenville Police Department released a statement Monday confirming the arrest of a man who set fire to and vandalized some Legacy Charter School buses early Saturday morning.
Authorities say Greenville police officers and firefighters responded to a 911 call. Upon arrival, the first responders discovered two school buses fully engulfed in flames and numerous others damaged, totaling approximately $400,000 in losses.
According to police, the fire was quickly determined to be arson, and detectives immediately began searching the premises for surveillance footage. With the help of the school resource officer, a suspect image was obtained, which led officers to a nearby gas station, where a clearer photo of the suspect was discovered.
Authorities were reportedly able to identify and locate the suspect, who was not named at this writing, and a search warrant was executed at his residence. It is unclear what the suspect’s motives were.
He was taken into custody and charged with four counts of arson and four counts of auto-breaking.
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