



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee police union said Friday, October 31st that 99.3% of its members from the Milwaukee Police Department voted that they have no confidence in Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn.



The results were made public during a news conference at the City Hall rotunda.



In a news conference Friday morning, the police union would not announce how many officers voted. But officials says it was a majority of the force. Union President Mike Crivello said many officers were too afraid of retribution to cast their ballots.



"We all know a 'no confidence' vote is not binding. But there absolutely is an expectation that the mayor's office would take great notice, the Common Council, certainly the public safety committee and more so than anybody, the Fire and Police Commission would take notice that such a large majority of the force does not have confidence in their leadership," said Crivello.



The "no confidence" vote is not binding -- and was to be submitted to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, the Milwaukee Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett.



For his part, Flynn told the city's Finance and Personnel Committee during a budget hearing on Friday that he has information that fewer than half of Milwaukee's officers voted at all -- and not to judge their work cased on what he calls a "union tantrum."



The "no confidence" vote against Chief Flynn comes after his decision to fire officer Christopher Manney. Manney was fired for the events leading up to the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton in Red Arrow Park on April 30th. Chief Flynn said Manney is not a bad person but he made bad decisions on that April day -- decisions that ended in Manney having no choice but to use deadly force on Hamilton.



Mayor Barrett released the following statement on the "no confidence" vote:



“This tactic by the leadership of the Milwaukee Police Association is not surprising. At a time when the citizens of Milwaukee are dealing with the aftermath of the Red Arrow Park shooting, the MPA leadership is trying to stoke a political fire. The brave men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department and the citizens of the Milwaukee deserve better. I have complete confidence in Police Chief Flynn and the hard-working members of the rank and file.”



CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the Dontre Hamilton case via FOX6Now.com.



