In Wisconsin, A Decade-Old Police Shooting Leads To New Law
Race is at the forefront of the current debate over the police use of deadly force. But one shooting in Wisconsin highlights another factor at play when police shoot civilians — the lack of outside investigation. And the decade-old death has led to real reform in the state.
Ten years ago, 21-year-old Michael Bell Jr. pulled up to the house where he lived with his mom and sister in Kenosha, Wis., about an hour south of Milwaukee. A police officer who, according to a police report chose to follow Bell after observing his driving, arrived shortly after. A subsequent toxicology report showed that Bell had been drinking that night.
Dash cam footage from inside the squad car shows Bell exiting the vehicle he was driving, where he was confronted by the officer. The two walked off-camera, where police tried to arrest him. A struggle ensued, and while his mom and sister watched from the house, Bell was shot, point-blank, in the head.
Bell's father, Michael Sr., says he'll never forget the phone call he received on the night of Nov. 9, 2004, from his oldest daughter.
"She called me up: 'Dad, you need to come to the hospital, Michael's been shot.' And then she told me it was by a police officer," Bell says. "And I just I figured it might've been shot in the leg or shot in the arm ... but I came to find out that an officer placed a gun directly to my son's temple and took his life."
Gina Barton, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's law enforcement investigative reporter, covered the story back in 2004. She says that what led to the shooting was one of the officers shouting, "He's got my gun."
"And another officer thought that Mike Bell was trying to disarm his partner," Barton says.
Barton says Bell's mother and sister, who were watching the altercation unfold, heard the officer as well and they tried to yell that Michael Bell did not have the officer's gun.
"But apparently, they either didn't hear that or disregarded it," Barton says.
The Kenosha Police Department's detective division and internal affairs division immediately conducted an investigation. Barton says it didn't take long. Within 48 hours, the department had determined that the shooting was justified, that the use of force was proper and that none of the officers had done anything wrong.
"It wasn't until later that we realized just how little of an investigation had been done," Barton says. "[They] basically just accepted the officers' version of events. So they were cleared really quickly."
As a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Michael Bell Sr. says he's been a part of mishap investigations before. He was expecting a long, drawn-out investigation into his own son's death — not a decision made by the same police department in just a couple of days.
"I was just completely appalled," Bell says. He says he knew the police had not even talked to the witnesses or gotten the report back from the crime lab. "So to clear themselves in 48 hours, I was just completely flabbergasted."
Bell says the family was in shock as they went through the difficult grieving process and were trying to make funeral arrangements, so he cautioned patience. But after lab reports finally came back, Michael Bell Jr.'s DNA and fingerprints were not found on the officer's gun.
So in 2010, Bell launched his own investigation.
"I finally made a decision that we're never going to get to the truth of the matter, unless we bring in our own personal investigators," he says. "So we hired an investigative consultant who teamed up with a retired Kenosha police detective."
Gina Barton, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, says that one of the experts hired by Bell came up with a theory that the gun had probably gotten caught on the rear-view mirror of the car near the scuffle. That mirror was in fact broken after the incident.
"The officer probably thought he had grabbed the gun, because why would an officer say that?" Barton says. "But as far as I can tell, it was a miscommunication and a misunderstanding that lead to [Bell's] death."
In a statement made in 2010, which the police department forwarded this December in response to NPR's request for comment, Police Chief John Morrissey from the Kenosha Police Department said, in part:
"The investigation showed that the actions of the officers were reasonable, appropriate and well within Kenosha Police Department policy, procedure, and training. I am fully confident that the officer's actions complied with the Kenosha Police Department's use of force guidelines."
Barton says that Wisconsin has had many officer-involved shootings and custody deaths. One of the problems that a lot of people in the community have with these situations is that the officer's own department will investigate the use of force.
"So if you know this officer, if you've worked with him before, can you really be objective in terms of evaluating that shooting? And is it really proper for the police to be policing themselves?" Barton says.
The Bell family ended up filing a civil suit for wrongful death. Six years later, they received a $1.75 million settlement. But there was no admission of wrongdoing, and the police maintained that Michael Bell Jr. caused his own death.
The family used the settlement money to fund a grassroots campaign. They took out ads in the New York Times, in USA Today and on radio and created TV commercials.
The campaigning went on for years, but Barton says the message really gained momentum after another police incident in 2011, where a 22-year-old man died in the backseat of a police car. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Bell bought every available billboard in Milwaukee with slogans like: "When Police Kill, Should They Judge Themselves?"
"After we created enough ruckus, the unions ended up sitting down with us and talking with us," Bell says. They told him that if he wanted to take the billboards down, they would work with him in crafting some the legislation he sought.
"I had formulated in my mind what really needed to occur here to make this process better," he says.
The law they put forth would make Wisconsin the first state in the nation to mandate, on the legislative level, that if an officer was involved with a loss of life, that outside investigators must come in and collect the data and investigate that shooting.
This past April, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker passed the bill into law.
Gina Barton says Bell was able to work with politicians on both sides of the aisle, and sold the bill as benefiting both the family members of whoever died as well as the officers involved.
"Because if you actually did do everything right, why wouldn't you want a transparent investigation that clears you and that shows everybody why you did the right thing?" she says.
Bell recognizes that their accomplishment with the bill happened with the help of the police. Five police units were even present when Gov. Walker signed the bill.
"I'm not against law enforcement, even though a law officer killed my son," Bell says. "And I do recognize that a number of police officers risk their life to protect people. In fact, police officers need to be part of the solution."
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Transcript
ARUN RATH, HOST:
Race is right at the front of the current debate over the police use of deadly force, to state the obvious. But it's just as obvious there are a lot of other factors at play when police kill civilians. And one killing, where race was never considered a factor, has led to real reform in the state of Wisconsin.
The story begins 10 years ago. Twenty-one-year-old Michael Bell, Jr. was pulled over by police for drunk driving and running a stop sign. He was parked right in front of his mom's house in Kenosha, Wisconsin, an hour south of Milwaukee. Dash cam footage from inside the squad car shows Bell exit the vehicle, where he's confronted by an officer who grabbed his arm. The two walk off camera, where police try to arrest him. [Post Production Correction: We incorrectly say Bell was pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving and running a stop sign. Ten years ago, 21-year-old Michael Bell Jr. pulled up to the house where he lived with his mom and sister in Kenosha, Wis., about an hour south of Milwaukee. A police officer who, according to a police report chose to pull Bell over after observing his driving, arrived shortly after. A subsequent toxicology report showed that Bell had been drinking that night.]
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest.
MICHAEL BELL JR.: Get off of me.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back.
RATH: A struggle ensues, and while his mom and sister watch from the house, Bell was shot point-blank in the head. Bell's father, Michael, Sr., says he'll never forget that phone call.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL BELL SR.: It was my oldest daughter. She called me up and said, dad you got to come to the hospital. Michael's been shot. And then she tells me it was by a police officer and I just - I figured it might have been shot in the leg or shot in the arm or something like that. But I came to find out that an officer placed a gun directly to my son's temple and took his life.
RATH: Gina Barton is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's law enforcement investigative reporter. She covered the story back in 2004.
GINA BARTON: What led to the shooting was that one of the officers shouted he's got my gun or he's going for my gun. And another officer thought that Mike Bell was trying to disarm his partner.
RATH: And everyone there heard the officer - all the witnesses heard him say that - that he's got my gun.
BARTON: He's got my gun. The other officers heard it. Mike's mother and sister heard it. And, in fact, Mike's mother and sister started screaming he does not have you gun. No, he doesn't have your gun. But, apparently, they either didn't hear that or disregarded it.
RATH: The Kenosha Police Department's detective division, and internal affairs division, immediately conducted an investigation. Barton says it didn't take long.
BARTON: Within 48 hours, the Kenosha Police internal affairs had determined that the shooting was justified and that the use of force was proper and that none of the officers had done anything wrong. And it wasn't until later that we realized just how little of an investigation had been done - basically just accepted the officers' version of events. So they were cleared really, really quickly.
RATH: As a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Bell says he's been part of mishap investigations. He says he was expecting a long, drawn out investigation into his own son's death, not a decision made by the same Police Department in just a couple of days.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BELL SR.: I was just, like, completely appalled. Like, I know that the police hadn't even talked to witnesses. And I know that the crime lab report's not back yet. And so to clear themselves in 48 hours, I was just - I was completely flabbergasted. Is this the normal process?
I've never experienced this before, and you have to understand that your family is in shock. You don't expect to lose a loved one like that. You're trying to make funeral arrangements, and the grieving process is just so hard. And so I cautioned patience to the family. And that's what I did.
RATH: But after lab reports finally came back, Bell's DNA and fingerprints were not found on the officer's gun.
When did you get to the point when you decided to launch your own investigation?
BELL SR.: In 2010, I finally made a decision that we're never going to get to the truth of the matter unless we bring in our own personal investigators. And so we hired an investigative consultant who teamed up with a retired Kenosha Police detective.
BARTON: And one of the experts hired by Mike Bell, Sr. came up with a theory that the gun had probably gotten caught on the rear view mirror of the car that they were struggling nearby. And that mirror, in fact, was broken after the incident. The officer probably thought he had grabbed the gun, because why would an officer say that if it hadn't happened or if he didn't think it had happened. But, as far as I can tell, it was a miscommunication and a misunderstanding that led to his death.
RATH: In a statement from 2010, Police Chief John Morrissey from the Kenosha Police Apartment said, in part, the investigation showed that the actions of the officer were reasonable, appropriate and well within Kenosha Police Department policy, procedure and training. I am fully confident that the officers' actions complied with the Kenosha Police Department's use of force guidelines.
In your time reporting there, have you come across any other cases involving police shootings that this compares to?
BARTON: Here in Wisconsin we've had many, many officer-involved shootings and custody deaths. And one of the huge problems that a lot of people in the community have with these situations is that the officer's own department will investigate the use of force. So if you know this officer, if you've worked with him before, can you really be objective in terms of evaluating that shooting? And is it really proper for the police to be policing themselves?
RATH: Michael Bell's surviving family members ended up filing a civil suit for wrongful death. Six years later they received $1.75 million dollars settlement. There was no admission of wrongdoing, and the police maintained that Michael Bell caused his own death. But Bell's family used the settlement money to fund a grassroots campaign.
BELL SR.: We've taken out ads in New York Times. We've taken out ads in USA Today. We've created TV commercials. We've created radio ads.
RATH: The campaigning went on for years. But reporter Gina Barton says the message really gained momentum after another police incident in 2011, where a 22-year-old man died in the backseat of a police car. A medical examiner later ruled the death a homicide. Bell bought every available billboard in Milwaukee. The signs said when police kill should they judge themselves?
BELL SR.: After we created enough ruckus, the unions ended up sitting down with us and talking with us and said, you know, if you want to take these billboards down, we will work with you in crafting some legislation as you seek. And because I had formulated in my mind what really needed to be - to occur here to make this process better.
RATH: And tell us about this law that was passed in Wisconsin. What does it do?
BELL SR.: Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to mandate on a legislative level that if an officer is involved with a loss of life, that outside investigators must come in and collect the data and investigate that shooting.
RATH: This past April, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker passed the bill into law.
BELL SR.: We accomplished this with the police. When the bill was signed by the governor, five police units were there with us, because I am not against law enforcement, even though a law officer killed my son. And I do recognize that a number of police officers risk their life to protect people. In fact, police officers need to be part of the solution.
RATH: That's Michael Bell. His son was killed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin in November of 2004. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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