No-confidence vote in Milwaukee chief Flynn nearly 100%
Nearly 100% of Milwaukee police officers voted they have no confidence in Police Chief Edward Flynn, the police union announced Friday.
Two dozen officers gathered in the City Hall rotunda Friday morning to reveal the results of the non-binding vote, which union leaders said they hoped would get the attention of Mayor Tom Barrett, Common Council and the city's Fire and Police Commission.
The union said 99.7% of officers voted no-confidence in Flynn
The vote was prompted by Flynn's decision to fire officer Christopher Manney after the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton at Red Arrow Park. Manney shot Hamilton 14 times on April 30 during a confrontation at the park.
Flynn has said he fired Manney not for using excessive force, but because he did not follow department rules in the moments leading up to the shooting and engaged in what Flynn described as an "out of policy pat-down." Manney has appealed his dismissal to the Fire and Police Commission.
Although the Milwaukee Police Union, which represents about 1,600 of the department's rank-and-file, supports Manney and believes his firing was "unjust," the no confidence vote was the culmination of larger unrest, union president Mike Crivello said.
"The picture is so much bigger than what took place April 30 and what ultimately led to the Oct. 15 firing," Crivello said.
The union has long decried the declining detective ranks and overall staffing levels, including the use of furloughs. The furloughs have reduced the number of two-officer squad cars, Crivello has said.
"If Officer Manney had been working with a partner would we be here today? And would Mr. Hamilton be deceased?" Crivello said in an interview. "And I'll answer those questions by saying I don't think so. I think two officers would have been able to address that situation in a different manner."
The last time the police union voted no confidence in a chief was in 1991 after then-Chief Philip Arreola suspended two officers who had handed over a teenage Laotian boy to Jeffrey Dahmer, who later confessed to killing the teen.
Arreola ultimately remained at his post until 1996.
Last week, Flynn issued the following statement about the pending no-confidence vote: "The moment a chief decides to worry more about his popularity with his officers than doing the right thing, he has become ineffective as a chief. The union has the same right to express their displeasure with my decisions as any other group."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/no-confidence-vote-in-milwaukee-chief-flynn-nearly-100-b99381927z1-281078832.html
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