Shorewood Coach Overwhelmed by Support; Still Waiting for Apology

Dominic Newman says he has been overwhelmed with the amazing amount of support from the community after he was , but he's still waiting on an apology from Shorewood police.

"I've received like 100 e-mails and some messages on Facebook showing support," Newman said.

A lot of the e-mails include stories of racial profiling by police in the North Shore, said Newman, who is the track coach at and a teacher at . 

The early Monday morning incident started with a 911 call from a Shorewood resident who heard a car alarm go off and thought a vehicle had been stolen. It wound up with Newman, who was driving his wife's car, being pulled over in Whitefish Bay, ordered out of the car, handcuffed at gunpoint and advised he was being arrested for grand theft auto.

Police released him soon after and said the incident was a "big misunderstanding."

Newman's friend and volunteer Shorewood track coach David Salmon said he wants to start a dialogue about the excessive actions of Shorewood police and racial profiling in wake of the incident.

Salmon has created a Facebook page to organize a community forum in which residents will take their concerns directly to Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski. He added he hopes to hold a community meeting in a couple weeks.

"My hope is that an action plan will arise from the meeting on how our community can help to restore faith in the police, diffuse the perception that racial profiling occurs and suggest ways for the police to play a more effective role in serving and protecting the North Shore," Salmon said.

Newman said starting a discussion like Salmon's is important. That's one of the things he wants others to take from his experience he says.

He also thinks the department should apologize to him for what happened. He says he has even received an apology from the person who made the call to 911 about a car alarm and glass breaking.

Newman added he wants to see a change in police policy.

"Even one gun drawn is too many," Newman said.

However, Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski said Newman received an apology and a handshake from the Shorewood police sergeant the night of the incident. Banaszynski added his sergeant said Newman didn’t seem angry after he was released.

Newman, however, said all he received that night was a business card from police and a response that they were just doing their job, protecting themselves and residents. There was no apology, he said.

Whitefish Bay Police Chief Robert Jacobs said the officers’ actions were appropriate, given the totality of the circumstances and the information police had at the time.

“In this case, Shorewood police received information about the sound of glass breaking, a car alarm sounding and a vehicle speeding away. That bears investigation,” he said. “You would expect the police department to respond.”

Additionally, Jacobs said North Shore police officers have been on high alert for vehicle thefts, given the that have been on the rise over the past three months.

Newman has said police could have just as easily approached the car and asked him about the car alarm, but Jacobs said that's not how officers are trained to deal with a high-risk traffic stop. Until the suspect is out of the car, they have the potential to use the vehicle as a weapon against the officers.

“A more prudent course of action is through a series of commands,” he said. “When a crime is suspected, the suspect is asked to turn off the car, drop the keys out of the window, exit the car and back up toward officers. Then they ask what’s going on. It avoids the potential for harm and injury to officers.”

And Banaszynski agrees. He said any police department would have done the same thing under the circumstances.

From FOX6 News: See dash-cam video of Newman's arrest.