Groups in Milwaukee have called for the state or Milwaukee Police Department to release the police video that may have captured the fatal officer shooting of Sylville Smith in August. After completing his investigation last week, Attorney General Brad Schimel said the tape would not be released until the Milwaukee County D-A decides whether to charge the officer.
Communities have made different decisions regarding when to release police footage. For example, Tulsa, Oklahoma released video shortly after an officer killed a black man there this week. Chicago held onto its footage for about a year.
David Klinger, a former officer and now a criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri, says investigators have to first make sure that all who witnessed the event come forward with their accounts, before they might see the officer's body cam video. Otherwise, it could inadvertently alter recollections.
