Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales on Sterling Brown body camera footage: 'I didn't see half the videos either'

Mary Spicuzza | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Show Caption Hide Caption Sterling Brown tased and arrested by Milwaukee Police Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown, was confronted by a Milwaukee Police officer January 26 for a parking violation. He was tased and arrested.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales says he "didn't see half of the videos" from the January incident involving Bucks rookie Sterling Brown.

Morales told reporters Wednesday that he instead was focused on the part of the footage involving Brown's tasing and arrest.

"I wasn't expecting any of that to come out," Morales told reporters following a news conference about new headlights on officer motorcycles. "I didn't see half the videos either. I focused on the part with Sterling Brown — the tasing and the arrest."

He added that the footage was "discoverable to the attorney" representing Brown.

"So for that to be given to you, or whoever it was given to, I don't know how that got there," he said, according to WISN. "But we're still working on our stuff internally."

Additional body camera footage obtained by the Journal Sentinel and others Monday showed troubling police conduct. One of the Milwaukee police officers involved in the arrest and tasing of Brown stepped on the NBA guard's ankle as he lay on the ground. Another officer requested overtime, singing, "Money, money, money, money!"

And when an officer asked why more investigators were on the way, a sergeant answered: "We're trying to protect ourselves."

“Because he plays for the Bucks, if he makes a complaint, it’s going to be a media firestorm," the sergeant said.

Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the Milwaukee Common Council said Tuesday that they had not seen the additional footage.

Saying it was unacceptable, aldermen have called for an investigation into the incident. Barrett is urging the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission to change how body camera footage is released.

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In a Wednesday letter to FPC Executive Director La Keisha Butler, Barrett requested staff "conduct a review of existing policies and potential changes to the policy for the release of body camera footage by the Milwaukee Police Department."

In total, 11 Milwaukee police officers will be disciplined or retrained as a result of their interaction with Brown.

Sgt. Sean Mahnke was suspended for 15 days; Sgt. Jeffrey Krueger was suspended for 10 days; and Officer Joseph Grams received a two-day suspension. Neither sergeant involved was demoted.

The other officers involved will undergo retraining, according to the Police Department.

Gov. Scott Walker continued to stress the importance of body cameras while declining to say whether he thought the suspensions of officers involved were appropriate.

"My hope would be not only for accountability, not only what happened in this case, but for training not only in Milwaukee but every other law enforcement agency in the state would look at that and try to learn from that," Walker said. "It’s not enough to go through training, it’s got to be continuing and reinforcement that those measures need to be used each and every time."

The incident began when Grams stopped at a Walgreens near W. National Ave. and S. 26th St. about 2 a.m. Jan. 26.

He waited for Brown to walk out of the store, then questioned him about parking across two handicap spots. Grams called for assistance.

The first body camera video made public, which was released by the Police Department last month, shows officers taking Brown to the ground and tasing him. On that video, he does not appear to act aggressively.

The new video shows Brown on the ground after he was tased in the back. One officer held his shoulder. Officer James Collins stood with a foot on Brown's right ankle.

“All this, for what?” Brown asked repeatedly. "You're stepping on my ankle, for what?"

"So you don’t kick us,” one of the officers answered.

"I ain’t got no reason to kick y’all, man," Brown replied.

A few seconds later, an officer asked if Brown was an NBA player.

"What you think? I look familiar, don’t I?” Brown said.

“I remember the name," the officer said.

Molly Beck of the Journal Sentinel staff in Madison contributed to this report.