Street Soldiers: cops and communities, part 2

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Street Soldiers continues to explore the divide between the police and the communities they serve.

In Milwaukee, the streets erupted into violence after the fatal police shooting of a 23-year-old African-American man, Sylville Smith, who was armed with an illegal gun. The officer who shot him is also black, and was wearing a body camera. The police chief says the video -- not initially made public -- shows the shooting was justified.

Milwaukee leaders pleaded for calm while at the same time acknowledging long simmering anger and hostilities.

The dismissal of charges against all six Baltimore police officers involved in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray seemed to justify frustrations with the judicial system. Days later the Justice Department released a scathing report that found the bpd routinely violated the rights of the citizens it was supposed to protect.

In New York, the city is paying $4 million to settle a wrongful death suit brought by the family of Akai Gurley. Peter Liang, the ex-NYPD officer who shot and killed Gurley in the stairwell of the Pink Houses in 2014, will personally pay $25,000. Liang is working off the 800 hours of community service he was sentenced to after being found guilty of negligent homicide.

The federal government is ordering the Baltimore Police Department to institute reforms. And in New York City, the NYPD is planning to expand a program that brings police and residents into closer, non-confrontational contact.