Days after the release of the Sterling Brown arrest video, the Milwaukee Police Union president said using a stun gun on the NBA player might have been the right thing to do.
The Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello told Scripps radio station 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee, it is possible those officers did the right thing.
"If they didn't feel as though they were getting control of him before he could get control of whatever that was in his pocket. Tasing may have been appropriate," Crivello said.
Crivello said he could not see what was happening during the struggle with Brown after an officer asked him to take his hands out of his pockets. That was right before Brown was taken to the ground and stunned.
He also suggested the use of a stun gun could have been prevented if officers always worked with a partner.
That's something the MPD Chief Alfonso Morales said he's focused on.
"We have worked exhaustively in the last three months to really try to figure out how we are going to handle this situation and move forward from it," Morales said.
The Milwaukee police chief answered some questions about the video Wednesday, but still is not saying much.
Morales has known this moment was coming when he and his department would be responding to the stunning and handcuffing of Brown.
"We're really working at putting our officers back at the district. We're looking at community-oriented policing," Morales said.
The chief is backing up his apology with a promise that officers will get new instructions on how to handle themselves with the public.
"Absolutely retraining, but here's the biggest and one of the things I brought up when I was campaigning for this position is leadership," Morales said. "This is leadership and that's what we're focusing on and changing our department."
