- In our first look tonight, the whole world is watching and
talking about how the Milwaukee Police Department tased a Bucks
basketball player.
- You don't-- You don't see-- You don't see the issue here?
Hold on.
- It happened in January, after Sterling Brown was approached
by police for an alleged parking violation outside a Walgreens.
The encounter escalated with an officer telling Brown to back up
and Brown asking the officer not to touch him.
Several squad cars responded.
- Taser, Taser, Taser!
[taser clicking] [groans of pain]
- After about nine minutes according to the police body cam
footage released Wednesday night, officers tased Brown.
When he was back on his feet,
the officer said he didn't recognize his as a famous name.
Brown said, "It's not famous. It's just legit."
Sterling Brown played in a game later that same day
with marks and bruises on his face.
He was not charged.
As to what happened, the Milwaukee Police chief said
this, "The department conducted an investigation
into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately
and those members were recently disciplined."
"I am sorry," he said,
"this incident escalated to this level."
Sterling Brown released a statement saying,
"Black men shouldn't have to have their guard up instantly
"and instantly be on the defensive when seeing
"a police officer, but it is our reality and a real problem.
"There must be mutual respect
"and both sides have to figure out how to accomplish this.
"I will take legal action
"against the Milwaukee Police Department
to continue forcing change in our community."
Now, reaction has been swift and angry and
not just because Sterling Brown is a Milwaukee Bucks player.
U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Milwaukee is here tonight
and thank you so much for being here.
- I'm glad to be with you.
- So what was your reaction when you saw that tape
of Sterling Brown's interaction with police?
- It's Friday in America.
Unfortunately, Sterling Brown is not the only person
who's experienced this.
I've personally experienced, you know, folk, you know,
driving around, driving while black
in a Mercedes-Benz at 2:00 a.m.
and being profiled and not being treated in the most civil way
by police officers.
And I think that it's systemic and it's a problem
and I agree with Mr. Brown that we've got to figure this out.
- Well, in fact, to your point, the Milwaukee Bucks organization
itself said that it shouldn't require an incident involving
a professional athlete to draw attention to the fact that
vulnerable, poor people in our communities have experienced
similar or worse treatment.
And so as to Milwaukee, what is it like to be
the U.S. Congressperson from that city
and see this really go worldwide?
- Well, I can tell you that, you know,
one of the things that we -- I have a bill, Frederica,
in Congress that really speaks directly to this incident.
Here's a situation where there was no one--
no one's life was in danger.
The police officer's life was not in danger.
Apparently the passenger in the car--
the store had not been robbed.
There was no -- there was no indication that there was
anything at risk other than the police officer's ego
when Mr. Brown didn't move enough inches away from his car.
The worst-- the worst case scenario
was that Mr. Brown illegally parked in a handicapped spot.
And, you know, he should have gotten a ticket for that
or the officer could have been in a position to say,
"I'm going to give you a warning."
But instead of that happening,
it escalated beyond where it should have,
and I have a bill that would require police forces around the
country to provide de-escalation training to their officers so
that they can discern between a really dangerous situation and
a situation like this where the officer could have said, "Okay,
man, you know, if you're not gonna cooperate with me,
instead of my just giving you a warning ticket,
because it's 2:00 in the morning,
there are no handicapped people here,
but if you don't want to cooperate,
I'm going to give you a ticket."
And if Mr. Brown had chosen to leave the scene
before the ticket was written or something,
he would have gotten the ticket anyway.
There's just absolutely no reason for Mr. Brown
to have ended up with bruises and in the hospital.
And I think de-escalation training is just one of
the tools in the tool kit that police officers
and the community should be able to rely on.
- What kind of support are you seeing for that bill?
- I introduced it last session and this session.
But what I want to share with you, Frederica,
is this is not some wild idea that I dreamed up.
This recommendation comes from the Police Executive Research
Forum.
It's a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute that looks at best
practices of police officers and police training and ideas.
And this was a part -- part of their report,
that this ought to be implemented.
Right now, there is absolutely no accountability, I believe,
for police actions that unfortunately often end in
fatalities, where the police officers simply have to say,
"I was afraid for my life" and not be accountable for, again,
discerning and scoping out a situation which this one clearly
was a situation where it just went too far too fast.
- Now, the new police chief in Milwaukee disciplined officers
and he apologized, saying he promises to change the
department, vowing to rebuild trust with the community.
What does he need to do to do that, in your mind?
- Well, I have not had the opportunity, Frederica,
to meet with the new police chief.
I look forward to that in the very near future.
But I'm saying he has a heavy-- this is a heavy lift for him
given the environment that we have in the country just
generally.
We have the president of the United States and the United
States attorney general withdrawing from all of the
consent agreements that have occurred between police
departments and the community to be able to try to carve out some
sort of understandings and agreements.
We've seen this be successful in places like Dallas, Texas,
where the Dallas police have deliberately engaged in
de-escalation training.
And not only has it reduced incidents,
negative incidents between police officers
and the community, but crime has actually been reduced.
And so, you know, this police chief would have to carve out
something outside of relying on the federal government to give
them the resources and the tools of the federal government
in order to be able to do this.
- All right. We leave it there.
Congresswoman Gwen Moore from Milwaukee,
thanks very much for joining us.
- And thank you, Frederica.
Good to see you.