City of Wausau. MWC file graphic
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Members of a local task force were given the chance to ask about the policies for officer-involved shootings.
Monday evening the Wausau Policing Task Force held a question and answer session regarding officer-involved shooting policies. The task force had been given a presentation about the policies at their December meeting but ran out of time to ask questions of Wausau Police Chief Ben Bliven.
During the question and answer session, Chief Bliven explained the general timeline for an officer-involved shooting incident. In the immediate aftermath of an OIC, a supervisor comes to the scene to take care of safety as the first priority. The crime scene is then held until local officers from the State Department of Criminal Investigations arrive.
From there the DCI takes over the case and collects evidence from the crime scene, including body cameras that stay rolling until the scene is cleared. Bliven then says it takes about 30 days for an investigation to be completed before it’s then handed off to the County District Attorney.
“Once that 30 days is complete, if the investigation is complete, they’ll turn that entire investigation over to the District Attorney. Our District Attorney locally has typically indicated that she will review that investigation and deliver a response within another 30 days. That’s the typical timeline.”
The District Attorney will usually deliver their decision in the form of a press conference where they can talk about the facts of the case and the decision. After that decision is announced the case is officially closed and the record becomes available for public access through the State DCI.
Along with the case records becoming available to the public following the closure, the Wausau Police Department will receive the records as well. With the records, the department can begin its internal investigation as explained by Bliven.
“We’ll turn that report over to our internal staff and ask them to review the videos, the report and make a determination as to compliance with policy. And then at that point, there’s a decision made as to whether or not the officer can return to full duty.”
In some cases, Bliven says officers can return to light duty which includes desk work and administrative tasks. All parts of the criminal investigation can be used in the internal investigation. Officers are required to answer all questions as a condition of continued employment.
The task force also went through the descriptions of the 6 officer-involved shootings in Wausau PD’s history in the past 40 years. Two of those shootings did result in death, both of which were in the last 5 years. Chief Bliven mentioned there has been an increase in cases in recent years of residents with weapons.
At the end of the Q&A session, the task force agreed they would like to see consistent reporting of officer-involved shootings and use of force cases across the state. The task force is hoping to address that need in their objectives as they work with the public and the Police Department on crafting policies.
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