Milwaukee PD Brethren to Lead ‘Independent’ Dontre Hamilton Investigation

After DA John Chisholm stalled a decision on charging the cop involved in the shooting of Dontre Hamilton in April, the independent state investigation is being led by a former city of Milwaukee police officer.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that half of the team investigating have ties to the police department.

Some are questioning whether the state’s investigation of his death is truly independent because the lead investigator for the state, Gilbert Hernandez, spent 35 years with the Police Department and DOJ supervisor David Klabunde, who provided the Justice Department’s report to the district attorney, spent 25 years with the Police Department.

Patrick Mitchell, deputy administrator of the Justice Department’s Division of Criminal Investigation, where Hernandez and Klabunde work, spent 27 years at MPD, retiring as an assistant chief.

Further, the two top administrators in the Justice Department’s Division of Law Enforcement Services, which supervises the State Crime Laboratory, also had long careers with the Milwaukee Police Department. Brian O’Keefe, administrator, rose to the rank of assistant chief of the Milwaukee police during his 30 years there. O’Keefe’s second-in-command, David Zibolski, worked for the Milwaukee police for 27 years.

The Justice Department concluded its investigation on August 8, but have not released the report. Hamilton was shot 14 times and killed by the officer.