FPC: Officers involved in Williams' death to face no discipline

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A letter written to Sharday Rose, the mother of Derek Williams' children, indicates the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission will not discipline any of the Milwaukee police officers connected to the Williams case. That letter was submitted on Thursday, June 27th.

Williams was seen on dash cam video on July 6th, 2011 asking for help and gasping for breath in the back of a Milwaukee squad car after he was arrested for robbery. He died a short time later.

An inquest jury recommended misdemeanor charges against three officers involved, but a special prosecutor determined there wasn’t enough evidence to do that.

The letter written by FPC Executive Director Michael Tobin to Rose said the FPC "determined that there is insufficient evidence to successfully conduct a citizen board disciplinary hearing in this matter."

The letter goes on to say, "we could not identify sufficient evidence that the response by any officer to Mr. Williams' medical needs was objectively unreasonable given the circumstances of that evening and the policies and training then existing."

 

The letter also said, "Although the squad car video may be alarming to watch, it is not indicative of what any single officer observed for the entire time."

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