Lawmakers ask U.S. to review Sylville Smith's death

State Reps. David Bowen and Evan Goyke, both Milwaukee Democrats, have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to take over the investigation into the fatal shooting of Sylville Smith by a Milwaukee police officer.

Smith’s death Aug. 13 sparked violent unrest in the city's Sherman Park neighborhood.

Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to enact a law that requires outside agencies to lead investigations into officer-involved deaths. But the fact that state Attorney General Brad Schimel has assigned former Milwaukee officers to the case “significantly contrasts with the spirit and the intent” of the law, Bowen and Goyke wrote to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

“The involvement of former employees of MPD poses a significant conflict of interest to this investigation,” the legislators wrote.

State Rep. ChrisTaylor (D-Madison), one of the authors of the law, said earlier this week that she has met several times with Schimel’s office, asking for policies that would prevent such conflicts, which she said create an appearance of bias. Schimel has not cooperated, she said.

“The bottom line is that you aren’t an outside investigator if you have formerly been employed by the police department you’re investigating,” she said.

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Johnny Koremenos, spokesman for the state justice department, said past employment did not preclude seasoned investigators from conducting “a thorough, independent, and factual analysis of an officer-involved shooting.”

“To imply deeply experienced...agents are unable to carry out a thorough and thoughtful investigation on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Justice in the search for truth is insulting,” he said.

In cases where local prosecutors are reviewing a case, U.S. Justice Department practice is to stand by while that investigation proceeds. Depending on the outcome and the facts of the case, that department could then conduct its own investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson, who has handled several of the local civil rights cases, said Friday he has not been made aware of the request for a separate federal investigation into Smith's death.

This isn’t the first time federal officials have been asked to investigate a Milwaukee police shooting since the passage of the state's officer-involved death law in 2014.

Dontre Hamilton was killed by a Milwaukee officer in Red Arrow Park shortly after the law took effect. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, basing his decision on a state justice department report, declined to file criminal charges against the officer involved, Christopher Manney.

After Hamilton’s death, state justice officials faced the same complaints of potential bias after it was reported that many of the investigators involved had spent years with the Milwaukee Police Department.

Federal prosecutors reached the same conclusion as Chisholm. On the same day they said they would not file charges, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn announced he was seeking a formal review of the department by the U.S. Department of Justice.

That two-year review, known as a "collaborative reform initiative," is underway. Milwaukee is the ninth department nationwide to be granted the voluntary review, which is examining policies, training and practices. Initial reports on the process are expected this fall.

Flynn fired Manney, not for using excessive force but because he did not follow department rules in the moments leading up to the shooting.

The officer who shot Smith, Dominique Heaggan, is on leave pending the results of the investigation, which is standard in such cases. Heaggan and his family have been subjected to numerous threats on social media since the shooting. Unlike in other controversial police shootings around the country, both men were black.

The legislators’ call for a federal investigation into Smith’s death came on the day he was laid to rest. Hundreds attended the funeral, at which the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for unity.

Taking the investigation out of the hands of former Milwaukee police officials would go a long way toward easing the frustrations of those in the community — most of them African-American — who experience a wealth of challenges, including concentrated poverty and high unemployment, said Bowen, who grew up in the Sherman Park neighborhood.

“It is crucial that trust be restored to the relationship between the public and law enforcement,” he said in a statement. “It is difficult for the public to trust a process that has former MPD officers conducting an investigation into a Milwaukee police-involved shooting.”

Ashley Luthern and John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this story.