Milwaukee police say they are no longer required to release body camera footage from a March 11 arrest on the city's far northwest side, after the man at the center of the case was upgraded from critical condition.
According to police, the 31-year-old man is believed to have ingested illegal drugs during the arrest. Officers used Narcan, then had him taken to a hospital. Two Milwaukee police supervisors and an FBI agent were also checked out at a hospital for exposure to an unknown substance and later released.
MPD: Incident no longer meets critical-incident criteria
As reported by FOX6 News Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Police Department says the man is no longer in critical condition, so the event no longer qualifies as a "critical incident" under its rules. Chief Jeffrey Norman had previously said he expected any video from the arrest to be released within the department's 15-day window while the case was still classified as critical.
What the department's video policy requires
Under Milwaukee's Video Release Policy, known as SOP 575, there is a presumption that video from officer-involved deaths and other critical incidents will be made public within 15 days, with room for redactions or withholding if required by law or safety concerns, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. The city's page on officer-involved critical incidents lays out how the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team, along with outside lead agencies, handles investigations, public findings, and requests for video and records, per the City of Milwaukee.
Policy under legal and political pressure
The 15-day video rule has been a political and legal flashpoint. The police union sued over the sped-up timeline, and a judge recently issued an injunction that blocks parts of the new policy, according to Courthouse News Service. When the Fire & Police Commission passed SOP 575 in 2023, transparency advocates cheered, but critics warned that unresolved bargaining and privacy questions made the rollout shaky, as Urban Milwaukee reported.
Investigation update and who's investigating
The March 11 arrest is now in the hands of the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team. Officials cited by FOX6 say the Greenfield Police Department is serving as the lead agency. Investigators are expected to decide whether the incident ultimately meets the department's critical-incident threshold and whether any video should be released or edited under SOP 575.
What this means for transparency
Even when a case falls out of the "critical" category, MPD can still choose to release footage ahead of or outside the 15-day standard, but it is no longer required to do so, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. The tug of war over SOP 575 shows how internal policy, court fights, and union contracts all help decide if and when the public gets to see police video, even in cases that initially spark widespread attention.
