An Outdated Homicide Alert Put Amber Newell in Front of Police Guns Twice in One Week

Amber Newell says she is afraid to drive after police surrounded her vehicle with guns drawn twice in one week because an outdated Milwaukee police alert remained attached to her license plate.

Traveling on Interstate 94 in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Newell was stopped at about 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 6. FOX6 News reported that video from the highway shows several officers with their weapons drawn as a passenger holds their hands outside a window.

A Flock alert connected Newell's vehicle to a Milwaukee homicide. After Brookfield officers contacted the Milwaukee Police Department, they learned that neither the vehicle nor the people inside were still wanted, allowing Newell and the other occupants to leave.

Milwaukee police later acknowledged that the problem originated inside the department rather than with the Flock license plate reader. Staff had failed to remove a wanted-vehicle alert after it was no longer needed, allowing outdated information to remain active in the system.

For Newell, learning how the mistake happened did little to erase the sight of officers pointing guns toward her vehicle. "I haven't been asleep since this has happened," she told FOX6. "Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is guns."

Reaching for her phone felt too dangerous when Newell wanted to call her mother. She feared that one sudden movement could cost her life as officers eventually placed her and the other occupants in handcuffs while motorists watched from passing cars.

Brookfield Police Chief Christopher Garcia defended his officers, saying their response was consistent with the information available to them. Newell said officers repeatedly directed her toward Milwaukee police when she sought an explanation for why she had been stopped.

Three days earlier, Newell said Milwaukee officers had also pulled her over with their guns drawn. She said they never explained why, towed her vehicle and eventually let her go.

Fear from the two stops has now reached Newell's daughter. Newell said the girl no longer wants to ride in the car and repeatedly asks her mother whether police are going to come for them again.

Seeking an explanation and apology from Milwaukee police, Newell said the department failed her by allowing the outdated alert to remain active. "Y'all failed the system, y'all failed me, y'all failed everybody," she told FOX6, adding that the experience has left her traumatized.