Authorities Should Release Officer Names & Details on UWM Police Shooting [EDITORIAL]

On March 19, Irie Payne was shot by police officers following an altercation about which no member of the public knows the nature of. More than a week later, citizens are still left in the dark about what happened, let alone the names of the officers involved.

The public was given all but the heart of the story – Payne was found sleeping outside of UW-Milwaukee’s Fine Arts building and was allegedly armed with some sort of weapon. Police have not revealed whether he was cooperating or not or how close they got to him before firing. While police need time to conduct a proper investigation, these altercation details are important for the public to know in order to assess the police response. By refusing to give their description of the event, at least so far, the community is stripped of its right to scrutinize authority actions. The community deserves to understand what transpired that morning, around 7 a.m., where there were likely little to no witnesses of the event.

On March 29, Payne is shown in a WISN-12 News clip with a black eye and described by the reporter as “nearly killed by the police.” The black eye, along with all the other altercation details, was not explained in the news report.

Our editorial board feels that these details should have be released as soon as possible. The police’s privilege to make shoot-or-don’t-shoot decisions comes with a great amount of accountability. There is no reason to suppress the names of the police officers if they acted appropriately – and if they did not, the public deserves to know that too. However, without the details of the altercation, it may be wishful thinking to say the officers acted ethically. To be sure, carrying a weapon on UWM property is illegal. However, officers may only shoot a suspect if they or another are facing imminent threat of death or great bodily harm. The fact that neither of these circumstances was mentioned raises a red flag. Since police are granted this extreme exercise of power over citizenry, it is only fair that they are transparent about the nature of altercation to the community they vowed to serve and protect.

The public needs the full story and the names of the officers. Including these names allows journalists to set up interviews and take it upon themselves to get those details. At the very least, a continuous effort to get the police’s description of the event will remind authorities that this will not slide under the rug over time. How many weeks will go by before the public is confidently able to say there was no abuse of power present?

Thus, this is not just about why we need the names of the officers, but why the names are being suppressed in the first place. In these trying times, and in the wake of Milwaukee’s 2016 riots, the community has every right to question this city’s police efforts. In the aftermath of the fatal shootings of Sylville Smith and Dontre Hamilton, citizens must demand transparency from police authorities.

This editorial was based on a discussion by a JAMS 504 editorial board.

(Update: After this editorial ran, the names and more details were eventually released in a criminal complaint. You can read that new information here.)