Milwaukee residents demand oversight after police chief’s training trip to Israel

Hundreds of Milwaukee residents told the Fire and Police Commission on Jan. 22 that Chief Jeffrey Norman’s trip last year to attend counterterrorism training in Israel had eroded trust in the Milwaukee Police Department and raised serious ethical questions.

Speakers at the meeting — representing community groups, faith leaders, advocacy organizations and families affected by police pursuits — demanded documentation of the trip’s funding and itinerary, asked whether city policy was followed, and urged the commission to recommend that the Common Council ban further exchanges of training, technology and software between MPD and Israeli military or law-enforcement agencies. "The decision of the chief of police to participate in a police training exchange in apartheid Israel raises significant ethical and moral questions," said Hassan Ada during public comment.

Speakers tied the trip to broader concerns about militarized policing and surveillance. Commenters repeatedly warned that techniques and technologies used in Israel — including predictive surveillance and crowd-control tactics — could be adapted locally. Many public speakers also asked MPD to commit to noncooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to halt use of technologies such as Flock vehicle cameras and facial-recognition systems.

At the meeting, the commission’s executive staff said their understanding was that public funds were not used for the trip. "My understanding is that public funds were not used for that trip," Deputy Director Jay Pusek said in a brief response to the public’s questions. Several speakers pressed for documentary proof, an itinerary and a clear explanation of what the chief learned and how, if at all, those methods would be implemented in Milwaukee.

Commissioners acknowledged gaps in oversight and said they would review how travel notifications are handled. The FPC also presented a new four-step process to make formal policy recommendations to departments and to the Common Council; several commissioners said they intended to use that process to pursue a formal recommendation on training exchanges and related policies.

The meeting did not produce any formal policy changes on the spot. Community members left with commitments from the commission to look into records and to consider drafting formal recommendations for the Council. The commission held the remainder of its business — notably a separate presentation and discussion of MPD vehicle-pursuit policy (SOP 660) — after the public comment period.