On Wednesday, Milwaukee police released body-cam footage from a January arrest of Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown over a parking violation in a Walgreens parking lot.

Brown, who appeared calm throughout the footage, found himself surrounded by at least five police officers who converged on him and dragged him to the pavement (around the 8:00 mark of the above video) after ordering him to take his hands out of his pocket. He was then hit with a Taser.

The video drew almost universal condemnation. Milwaukee police chief Alfonso Morales apologized for officers who “acted inappropriately” in a statement he read at a news conference. Mayor Tom Barrett said he was “offended” by what he saw and pledged to work toward better police-community relations.

“I am very sorry the Milwaukee police treated him in the fashion he was treated,” Barrett said.

View photos While police chief Alfonso Morales apologized for the police brutality against Sterling Brown, the Milwaukee police union looked to blame others. (AP) More

The Bucks stood firmly by Brown, condemning the “abuse and intimidation that Sterling experienced at the hands of Milwaukee Police” that “was shameful and inexcusable.”

This was a no-brainer. What the police did was bad and wrong. It should have been universally shouted down. And it almost was.

Then the Milwaukee Police Association stepped in, issuing the following statement decrying the “sensational” nature of the Brown incident.

The Milwaukee Police Association, union for rank-and-file officers, has released a statement on the Sterling Brown video/arrest: pic.twitter.com/Jb5fV7SzxX — Ashley Luthern (@aluthern) May 24, 2018





Use of Force will never look pretty, but it is – unfortunately, a necessary component of policing. The cause or need for force is always dictated by the subject confronting the police officer. …



Inevitably every Use of Force will be scrutinized and often opinion gets in the way of fact. Unfortunately, society and local leaders only take issue when the situation is sensational, or the individual is of prominence. Our officers are routinely injured during Use of Force applications; rarely is there an outcry of support from civic leadership.

Nowhere in the above statement is there any responsibility pointed toward the officers who used excessive force over a parking violation.

Rather than accept any fault for actions of the police officers, the police union chose to stand behind the thin blue line and spread the blame on others. Rather than look for ways make progress on the plague of incidents involving police officers and black Americans, the MPA chose to protect its own.

Of course, it’s a police union’s job to stand behind its officers no matter what. That doesn’t make it the right thing to do. And in this instance, it’s certainly not.

After deflecting blame from the offending police officers, the statement finds its scapegoat, the city of Milwaukee.

City leadership and the former chief [who never supported proper staffing] truly need to self-examine. Our force is so drastically understaffed that negative outcomes are inevitable!



Force is minimized significantly when situations are properly addressed immediately. However, because officers are frequently mandated to work alone they are at greater risk to be compelled to use higher levels of force. The city may be complicit in the death of subjects, or in the greater use of force in many situations that have occurred. This is due primarily, or solely, because a one-officer squad responded; and/or ill-equipped officers responded.

So the reason that at least five police vehicles and at least as many police officers were on the scene to handle a parking violation for a black citizen was because of understaffing. Got it, MPA. That makes total sense.

View photos The Milwaukee Police Association did not once directly address Sterling Brown in its statement regarding his arrest. (Milwaukee PD) More

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