Wisconsin DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation – Officer-Involved Death Reviews

Summary

Wis. Stat. §175.47 requires every Wisconsin law enforcement agency to adopt a written policy mandating that officer-involved deaths be investigated by an independent team of at least two investigators, neither of whom is employed by the agency that employs the involved officer. The statute does not designate a specific statewide body; in practice the Wisconsin DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) frequently serves as the independent team when requested by local agencies. Investigators must deliver a complete report to the county DA; if no prosecution is warranted the report must be released publicly (with exempt information redacted). The statute is silent on subpoena power or statutory access to BWC footage, IA files, or personnel records for the independent investigators; those access questions are resolved by inter-agency agreement and Wisconsin's public records law. DCI has no discipline authority.