A Wisconsin police officer who killed three people in the line of duty agreed to resign from the department.
Joseph Mensah, an officer for the Wauwatosa Police Department, was cleared of wrongdoing in all three deaths, but there were growing calls for him to be fired, including a recommendation that he lose his job from a private investigator. He entered into a separation agreement on Tuesday with the Wauwatosa Peace Officers Association and the city of Wauwatosa. His resignation will be effective on Nov. 30.
“Now is the time for all of us to come together and heal,” Mayor Dennis McBride said in a statement. “We’ve made substantial progress during 2020, and in the coming year we’ll continue to focus on positive change for our community. As before, I’m committed to working with the Common Council, the city’s Equity and Inclusion Commission, and members of the public to make that happen.”
Mensah has fatally shot three people while in the line of duty during the last five years, the first of which happened less than a year after he was hired by the department.
Most recently, in February, Mensah shot and killed 17-year-old Alvin Cole. Police were called to check on a disturbance outside a shopping center. When they arrived at the scene, officers found Cole armed with a stolen 9 mm pistol. Police said the teenager ran away and that as officers gave chase, he fired his weapon before being fatally shot by Mensah.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced last month that Mensah had an “objectively reasonable” belief that he needed to use deadly force during the arrest and, therefore, was not charged in connection to Cole’s death.
Two other men Mensah fatally shot were Antonio Gonzales in 2015 and Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office ruled that Mensah was justified in his use of force in both instances.
Mensah had been suspended since July after Anderson’s family filed a complaint.
Kimberley Motley, a representative for the families of the men killed by Mensah, reacted to his resignation by saying, “This fight is far from over.”
Police shootings have garnered the spotlight in 2020 amid nationwide protests and the death of minorities at the hands of law enforcement officers.
