Milwaukee’s head of violence prevention department resigns due to past felony conviction

When he was appointed to lead violence prevention efforts in the city of Milwaukee, Adam Procell, who had been convicted of homicide as a teenager, was seen as a tale of redemption.

Now, he’s instead become an example of the roadblocks faced by people with past felony convictions.

Procell was forced to resign last week as director of Milwaukee’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety because of a provision in the Wisconsin Constitution that bars people with felonies from serving as public office department heads.

“To say I’m disappointed does not even begin to describe the frustration that I have,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson when speaking about the resignation.

Johnson said he believes it’s “ironic” that President Donald Trump, who was convicted of 34 felonies in 2024, is able to serve as the leader of the nation.

“But a felon, somebody who has a felony conviction, cannot lead a department in his own community, working to prevent crime, working to prevent those issues that harm folks in our community.”

Procell, 45, was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide 30 years ago when, at the age of 15, he killed a rival gang member. He spent 23 years in prison before being paroled in 2018 after, he said in an interview with Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express, his victim’s father advocated for his release.

After his parole, Procell focused on helping people leaving prison. He worked as a community outreach specialist and interim director of Partners in Hope, a faith-based prisoner reintegration program. He also co-founded a consulting firm focused on improving the criminal justice system, and worked to help pass legislation to help people reenter society after incarceration.

Johnson appointed Procell to lead the city’s violence prevention efforts last August. The mayor said he believes Procell’s past conviction has “added to his work and qualifications in the crime prevention field.”

But in January, after a vote last year by the Milwaukee Common Council, the city’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety shifted from being a division of the Department of Administration to a standalone department.

And with that change in department classification, Johnson said, City Attorney Evan Goyke “concluded that by law, Adam (Procell) cannot serve as the department director.” 

The Wisconsin Constitution says that no person convicted of a felony, “shall be eligible to any office of trust, profit or honor in this state.”

Procell will officially resign on Feb. 11.

At a press conference announcing the resignation, Procell said many people who have made past mistakes or who were formerly incarcerated have told him he has given them hope.

“I think those who have made some of the most serious mistakes have the potential to contribute in ways that you can’t even possibly understand, if we can only be given the opportunity,” he said.

For city leaders who felt Procell’s work was making a difference, the forced resignation was infuriating.

Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski called Procell “irreplaceable.”

“If we want to talk about something that needs to be changed, we need to talk about state law and perhaps the criminal justice system,” Lipski said. “If we’re going to stand on words like righteousness and religion and all that stuff, what about redemption and grace?”

State Sen. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee, she said she supports changing the state constitution’s language around convicted felons.

“I’ve advocated for change that not every sentence should be a life sentence,” Drake said. “I believe that if you’ve served your time, people shouldn’t always have to pay for that mistake for the rest of their life, and I believe people deserve a fair second chance.”  

Community activist Vaun Mayes works with the Promise Keepers, a violence prevention team with the Department of Community Wellness and Safety. He said he’s had many conversations with Procell about violence prevention work over the past few months.

“If you were once involved in crime, you know how criminals think and how to go about dealing with criminals and criminal activity,” Mayes said.

Mayes believes the leadership shakeup will have an impact on the department’s goals.

“We had a lot of plans and stuff, strategy coming into this year, and now that’s interrupted, because now the leadership changes,” he said.

Procell’s resignation comes as homicides increased by 8 percent in Milwaukee last year, even as murder rates fell by double-digits in large cities around the country. However, other serious crimes — like nonfatal shootings, robbery and aggravated assaults — were down last year compared to in 2024, according to Milwaukee Police Department crime data.

Milwaukee Alder Scott Spiker said the common council voted last year to move the office to a standalone department so they would have input on who is selected for future director positions. He said it was a surprise to him that doing so would prohibit Procell from holding the position.

“Nobody had this on their radar screen — not us (common council), not the mayor’s office, not the city attorney’s office even,” Spiker said.

In his resignation letter, Procell wrote he did not want his employment with the city to “be the reason the department reverses course,” saying he believes the office should be its own department. 

“I don’t have any ill will towards anybody,” Procell said. “I don’t think anything was done maliciously.”

Karin Tyler will lead the department after Procell’s resignation.