December 18, 2019

The Honorable,
Members of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners
City Hall

Honorable Members,

First, it is not our intention to address here whether or not Chief Alfonso
Morales should be re-appointed as chief of police. The Chief’s service deserves
to be fairly and fully evaluated on its merits and in open consultation with the
public.

Your honorable body’s decision to hold a special meeting this evening to take
up his re-appointment, however, calls into question the thoroughness of the
review you propose to undertake and to which both Chief Morales and the
community are entitled.

There is no decision of greater consequence for the Board of Fire and Police
Commissioners than the appointment of a chief of police. The relationship of
the citizens we represent and the Milwaukee Police Department can be difficult
as witnessed by the on-going settlement of the American Civil Liberties Union
lawsuit as well as a litany of other suits filed against officers and the department
in recent years. These circumstances demand that the chief be selected only
after a process that is fair, inclusive, and transparent. A special meeting on a
Wednesday night cannot achieve that.

We urge you to reconsider and postpone the re-appointment of Chief Morales

until a far better process can be created and shared with the community. In the
interest of bringing closure to this matter, it seems reasonable that your decision
could be made within the next 30 days.
Respectfully,

Ashanti Hamilton, Nik Kovac, Robert J. Bauman,

Alderman, 1st District Alderman, 3rd District Alderman, 4th District

Nikiya Dodd, Milele A. Coggs, Khalif J. Rainey,

Alderwoman, 5th District Alderwoman, 6th District Alderman, 7th District

Chantia Lewis, Michael J. Murphy Russell W. Stamper, II

Alderwoman, 9th District Alderman, 10th District Alderman, 15th District