Row of police cars, with blue and red flashing sirens. selective focus
Protesters continue to demand justice over the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha over the weekend. And Democrats in the Legislature say the incident underscores the need for immediate action on police accountability measures.
Groups such as Black Lives Matter and other activists say the Kenosha police officers who shot Jacob Blake multiple times in the back should be charged. Police fired their weapons when Blake tried to enter his vehicle while walking away from them during a domestic-disturbance call.
State Rep. Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, said while the investigation still needs to play out, it’s clear from witness videos the level of force officers used was unnecessary.
“We need training as to how to de-escalate a situation before it ends up becoming something like this,” Sinicki said.
Blake is expected to survive the incident, and the officers involved have been placed on leave.
Sinicki and Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, want lawmakers in special session to consider a legislative package that, among other things, would mandate annual training on use-of-force and de-escalation techniques.
Republicans have said they would rather form a task force to study the issues, as well as racial disparities. They argue it’s too soon to take action when little is known about the incident, even as it has generated a great deal of emotion.
But Democrats say the task-force approach would take too long at a time when many people are demanding an immediate response, particularly in light of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis back in May.
Sinicki said there’s no time to stall.
“This is just to me unfathomable that we have gone through this summer and not addressed these issues,” she said.
Other Democrats say these issues have been studied before, and the struggles Black Americans have faced are well-documented.
Gov. Evers has called several special sessions since taking office, but Republicans have largely failed to take up any proposals when called back to Madison.
