After more than two years of discussion, Wauwatosa officials have rejected a proposed ban on no-knock warrants in the city

After more than two years of discussion, a proposal to ban the use of no-knock warrants by the Wauwatosa Police department was rejected Oct. 4 by the common council in a 12-3 vote.

The ban was first discussed in June 2021 by the government affairs committee, but was ultimately tabled. In 2022, the proposal would be revived by Ald. Sean Lowe after he was elected to the Wauwatosa Common Council.

If approved, the proposal would have changed the city ordinance to ban no-knock warrants, but it would not have totally eliminated them as it would have allowed for exceptions to be “granted from the police chief or a judge under extreme circumstances.”

Council members Lowe, Andrew Meindl and Meagan O’Reilly were the only members to support the ban. Council members voting against the ban cited worries about what the proposal would actually do, as the ability to grant exceptions means it would closely resemble the Wauwatosa Police Department’s current set of operations.

Lowe has publicly opposed the use of no-knock warrants since 2020 when he first called for them to stop being used. Lowe reiterated his position on the topic in a September government affairs meeting where the ban was discussed.

“No-knock warrants have continually been banned in cities across our country, including the city of Milwaukee … no-knock warrants are not only dangerous for citizens, but they are also very dangerous for police officers,” said Lowe.

At the same meeting, Police Chief James MacGillis spoke passionately against the ban as he explained that he feels the sparsely used tool can be crucial in protecting officers and community members.

“I feel even stronger that legislation will take away my ability to have this additional option to either approve or deny (a warrant),” said MacGillis, “I am respectfully asking you to deny this proposed legislation … understand if you're going to try and send a message you will be putting my officers and this community in danger.”

The Wauwatosa Police Department has served 30 no-knock warrants from 2016-2021 — all outside city limits

In the 2016-2021 period preceding the latest proposal to ban no-knock warrants, the Wauwatosa Police department executed 30 no-knock warrants, however, all of them took place outside city limits.

“Generally, all search warrants served by our special response team stem from an incident in Wauwatosa. However, we partner with multiple task forces and other jurisdictions and occasionally assist in serving search warrants from their investigations,” said Sgt. Abby Pavlik of the data.

There was some public support for the ban as one community member spoke at the meeting, saying she doesn't feel this kind of warrant brings anything positive into the community and thus it is not needed.

The government affairs committee did not agree with this stance as it would eventually go on to recommend rejecting the ban in a 7-1 vote. Some committee members expressed that the proposal is more a matter of semantics than an ordinance change because of the loopholes for emergency situations.

“Legally we are already kind of bound to this, it’s already kind of our place and how we are running things and so I’m just wondering what is left to discuss if we are already at this point?” said Ald. Amanda Fuerst.

Despite the rejection, Lowe said he “absolutely” plans to restructure the proposal and offer it to the council again sometime in the future. As for what that could look like, Lowe said it is still too early to tell.

A proposal years in the making

The push to ban no-knock warrants gained momentum across the country in the summer of 2020 after Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by plainclothes officers who rushed into Taylor’s apartment while executing a no-knock warrant.

The idea was first talked about in Wauwatosa the same year when the Wauwatosa Equity and Inclusion Commission, which Lowe chaired, recommended a ban on no-knock warrants alongside calls for body cameras and a ban on chokeholds.

A year after these recommendations were made, talks about a ban on no-knock warrants were rekindled during a June 2021 government affairs committee meeting. It was eventually decided that the proposal would be tabled until the Wauwatosa Police Department appointed a new police chief.

Arguably the biggest step in the culmination of the current proposal came in 2022 when Lowe was elected to the city's Common Council. After being elected Lowe, immediately identified a ban on no-knock warrants as one of his top priorities.

Beck Andrew Salgado can be reached at 512-568-4070 or Bsalgado@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Beck_Salgado.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: No-knock warrants will not be banned in Wauwatosa, officials say