Here & Now

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore on Sterling Brown Tasing

Frederica Freyberg:

In our first look tonight, the whole world is watching and talking about how the Milwaukee Police Department tased a Bucks basketball player.

Police Officer:

You don’t see the issue here? Hold on.

Frederica Freyberg:

It happened in January, after Sterling Brown was approached by police for an alleged parking violation outside a Walgreens. The encounter escalated with an officer telling Brown to back up and Brown asking the officer not to touch him. Several squad cars responded.

Police Officer:

Taser, Taser, Taser.

Frederica Freyberg:

After about nine minutes according to the police body cam footage released Wednesday night, officers tased Brown. When he was back on his feet, the officer said he didn’t recognize his as a famous name. Brown said it’s not famous, it’s just legit.

Sterling Brown played in a game later that same day with marks and bruises on his face. He was not charged. As to what happened, the Milwaukee Police chief said this, “The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately and those members were recently disciplined. I am sorry, he said, this incident escalated to this level.” Sterling Brown released a statement saying, “Black men shouldn’t have to have their guard up instantly and instantly be on the defensive when seeing a police officer, but it is our reality and a real problem. There must be mutual respect and both sides have to figure out how to accomplish this. I will take legal action against the Milwaukee Police Department to continue forcing change in our community.” Now, reaction has been swift and angry and not just because Sterling Brown is a Milwaukee Bucks player. U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Milwaukee is here tonight and thank you so much for being here.

Gwen Moore:

Im glad to be with you.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what was your reaction when you saw that tape of Sterling Brown’s interaction with police?

Gwen Moore:

Its Friday in America. Unfortunately, Sterling Brown is not the only person who’s experienced this. I’ve personally experienced, you know, folk, you know, driving around, driving while black in a Mercedes-Benz at 2:00 a.m. and being profiled and not being treated in the most civil way by police officers. And I think that it’s systemic and it’s a problem and I agree with Mr. Brown that we’ve got to figure this out.

Frederica Freyberg:

Well, in fact, to your point, the Milwaukee Bucks organization itself said that it shouldn’t require an incident involving a professional athlete to draw attention to the fact that vulnerable, poor people in our communities have experienced similar or worse treatment. And so as to Milwaukee, what is it like to be the U.S. Congressperson from that city and see this really go worldwide?

Gwen Moore:

Well, I can tell you that, you know, one of the things that we — I have a bill, Frederica, in Congress that really speaks directly to this incident. Here’s a situation where there was no one — no one’s life was in danger. The police officer’s life was not in danger. Apparently the passenger in the car — the store had not been robbed. There was no — there was no indication that there was anything at risk other than the police officer’s ego when Mr. Brown didn’t move enough inches away from his car. The worst — the worst case scenario was that Mr. Brown illegally parked in a handicapped spot. And, you know, he should have gotten a ticket for that or the officer could have been in a position to say, “Im going to give you a warning.” But instead of that happening, it escalated beyond where it should have, and I have a bill that would require police forces around the country to provide de-escalation training to their officers so that they can discern between a really dangerous situation and a situation like this where the officer could have said, “Okay, man, you know, if you’re not gonna cooperate with me, instead of my just giving you a warning ticket, because it’s 2:00 in the morning, there are no handicapped people here, but if you don’t want to cooperate, Im going to give you a ticket.” And if Mr. Brown had chosen to leave the scene before the ticket was written or something, he would have gotten the ticket anyway. There’s just absolutely no reason for Mr. Brown to have ended up with bruises and in the hospital. And I think de-escalation training is just one of the tools in the tool kit that police officers and the community should be able to rely on.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of support are you seeing for that bill?

Gwen Moore:

I introduced it last session and this session. But what I want to share with you, Frederica, is this is not some wild idea that I dreamed up. This recommendation comes from the Police Executive Research Forum. It’s a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute that looks at best practices of police officers and police training and ideas. And this was a part — part of their report, that this ought to be implemented. Right now, there is absolutely no accountability, I believe, for police actions that unfortunately often end in fatalities, where the police officers simply have to say, “I was afraid for my life” and not be accountable for, again, discerning and scoping out a situation which this one clearly was a situation where it just went too far too fast.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, the new police chief in Milwaukee disciplined officers and he apologized, saying he promises to change the department, vowing to rebuild trust with the community. What does he need to do to do that, in your mind?

Gwen Moore:

Well, I have not had the opportunity, Frederica, to meet with the new police chief. I look forward to that in the very near future. But Im saying he has a heavy — this is a heavy lift for him given the environment that we have in the country just generally. We have the president of the United States and the United States attorney general withdrawing from all of the consent agreements that have occurred between police departments and the community to be able to try to carve out some sort of understandings and agreements. We’ve seen this be successful in places like Dallas, Texas, where the Dallas police have deliberately engaged in de-escalation training. And not only has it reduced incidents, negative incidents between police officers and the community, but crime has actually been reduced. And so, you know, this police chief would have to carve out something outside of relying on the federal government to give them the resources and the tools of the federal government in order to be able to do this.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We leave it there. Congresswoman Gwen Moore from Milwaukee, thanks very much for joining us.

Gwen Moore:

And thank you, Frederica. Good to see you.