After federal investigators announced that an ex-Milwaukee officer would not face charges in the shooting death of an unarmed mentally ill Black man, chief Ed Flynn asked the Department of Justice to examine his department, according to BuzzFeed.

Dontre Hamilton, 31, was shot 14 times in April 2014 by former officer Christopher Manney, who said he fired in self-defense.

From BuzzFeed:

The DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) said Milwaukee’s police will undergo a voluntary process — known as a “collaborative reform initiative” — led by federal officials. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the city is only the ninth department in the country to apply for the voluntary review.

[…]

Hamilton family attorney Jonathan Safran told BuzzFeed News that he welcomes the federal review, but added that the process “really does not have anything to do with Dontre Hamilton’s case, other than the fact that Chief Flynn announced it the same day that the Civil Rights Division announced that it was not going to pursue charges against Christopher Manney.”

The Journal-Sentinel reports that the COPS review takes a less adversarial approach than a consent decree — or a formal monitoring program of police like the investigation announced last week in Chicago.

We’re glad Chief Flynn initiated the review and hope something comes out of the findings that will benefit both the community and the police department.

SOURCE: BuzzFeed | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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