A COMMON SENSE PLAN TO RESTORE Public Safety
Violent crime has been increasing in southeastern Wisconsin since 2019. One of the best ways to reduce crime and restore public safety is to make sure the economy is robust and working for everybody, and that everyone has access to good quality, affordable health care, including mental health care.
In addition to improving economics and health care, we still need to address the crimes that do occur in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner.
This plan will help to restore public safety and address the increase in violent crime in five main ways: 1) investing in law enforcement; 2) a realistic approach to gun safety; 3) better crime prevention; 4) criminal justice reforms, and 5) addressing Alcohol & Drug Addiction and Mental Health.
INCREASE INVESTMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
It’s time to invest more in our police departments, in common-sense ways that will help improve public safety.
To start with, we need to support the officers that we have. To support our law enforcement community, we need to offer competitive salaries, promote continuing education & training and encourage scheduling that allows officers sufficient time to rest. They need to be adequately outfitted with proper equipment and technology. We expect a great deal from these individuals and we must set them up for success.
Federal funding should be made available to states and communities to ensure that current officers and new recruits should all receive improved training. This will ensure officers and recruits are equipped to deal respectfully and responsibly with people of all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, as well as different gender identities and sexual orientations . In addition to improving the substance of training, we need to make sure that officers’ training time is sufficient. Our military men and women train constantly so as to perform as close to perfect as possible to minimize negative outcomes when that training is to be called upon. Our law enforcement should also be afforded this opportunity.
Many Wisconsinites are concerned as they see levels of violent crime increasing while seeing the number of officers per capita decreasing. An adequately-maintained police department working with other community leaders will help to deter crime, though a one size fits all approach seldom works. Investing in law enforcement can look different depending on the community. It is important to understand the workload of departments and adjust staffing of such departments based on those workloads. Investing in law enforcement could mean more officers, but it could also mean investing in existing officers and potentially using their skills differently.
When new officers are hired, emphasis must be placed on adding highly qualified individuals who are held to high standards. Those who fall short must be held accountable. To put more good recruits in the pipeline, we should invest in training programs and partner with schools to promote law enforcement as an attractive career option. To help hold poor performing officers accountable, we need federal whistleblower protections within the ranks.
Finally, we need to allow our valuable, highly trained, sworn officers to focus on stopping dangerous criminals to keep our communities safe. Our police shouldn’t need to be social workers or mental health experts. Instead, we need to fully fund creative alternative response programs with teams to complement sworn officers. It will take time to investigate and determine the appropriate responder whether it be a social worker, police officer, or other professional (or any combination) in any given response.
The federal government should provide resources and encourage local governments to adequately fund mental health and addiction treatment to keep people out of crisis, thus lowering potential police calls, as well as funding both in-patient and community based mental health programs that individuals and law enforcement can turn to for immediate assistance. This, in addition to appropriately staff a variety of professionals and develop creative responses to homelessness, drug abuse as well as violent crime, in a way that best serves those communities, will help lower our crime rates and increase the effectiveness of our police force.
STOPPING THE EPIDEMIC OF GUN VIOLENCE
I’m a gun owner, and many of my neighbors are too. We own them for hunting, for personal protection, and as a hobby. I fully support the Second Amendment’s protection of responsible gun ownership. At the same time, I don’t think people have the right to own grenade launchers, fully automatic machine guns, or tanks. I know I’m not alone in this belief.
With that in mind, I support universal background checks and the enforcement of straw purchase laws, and cracking down on dealers who violate the regulations. In states in which universal background checks are in place, gun deaths have decreased. Meanwhile, states that have not implemented universal background checks have seen their gun deaths increase. I will work to improve coordination and communication between federal agencies like ATF and FBI and state & local law enforcement agencies to quickly identify dangerous individuals and share information.
There are a number of laws on the books that don’t serve the intended purpose. Statistics show that people who commit domestic violence are more likely to commit gun violence. However, a number of loopholes exist in the background check process that allow for people who commit domestic violence to still obtain a gun. We need to clean up these laws so that a person cannot get a gun if (i) a person is convicted of committing domestic violence, regardless of relationship status at the time of the domestic violence; (ii) is convicted of stalking a person; or (iii) is subject to a temporary restraining order in connection with a domestic violence allegation. Additionally, the record system must be modernized to ensure an accurate background check.
Again, all the policies outlined above are common-sense changes to existing laws, which would have the effect of keeping guns out of the hands of those people, who most gun owners agree, should not have guns.
PREVENTING CRIME IN THE FIRST PLACE
Here, we need to invest in community-based, evidence-driven violence prevention programs, which have been shown to reduce violence by as much as 60%. This includes addressing the critical lack of mental health resources, such as community mental health programs and clinics.
We should also expand summer and after-school youth programming to give teens and young adults productive outlets while fostering a sense of community.
As noted above, improving economic opportunities for all Americans will reduce crime. Numerous studies show that poverty and lack of economic opportunities is strongly correlated with higher crime rates. A successful economic policy that works for all Americans is also a good public safety policy.
REFORM OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Finally, restoring public safety means changes in our criminal justice system.
Let me be clear — Racial disparities in the criminal justice system must end. National statistics show that the way Black men are affected by the justice system demonstrates racial disparity, which needs to be addressed. This is completely unacceptable and we must reverse this trend through reforms in education and training throughout the criminal justice system (including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police, social workers, and corrections officers), better community relations, and further exploration of the problem.
We need to reform our bail system so that dangerous criminals and those who are a threat to others are kept behind bars while awaiting trial, while those who are not dangerous or a threat are not jailed before trial simply because they can’t afford reasonable bail.
We need to reduce sentencing guidelines for non-violent crime, especially for marijuana-related crimes. In fact, legalization of marijuana would free up significant police resources while also adding tax revenues to the state and allowing for the regulation of the production and sale of marijuana. A regulated marijuana industry not only provides tax revenue but also increases safety to consumers utilizing marijuana and removes a lucrative funding source from criminal organizations.
We need to increase funding to our courts and public defenders so that the guilty receive the representation to which they are Constitutionally entitled and the innocent poor are able to put up a fair fight rather than plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. All of this needs to be done quickly so that the innocent can return to their lives with minimal interruption.
Those who go to prison should not be condemned once completing their sentence, having the opportunity to successfully reintegrate into communities upon release. For this to happen, challenges including addiction and mental health problems must be addressed. Successful reintegration requires economic opportunities, starting with training for in-demand skills while in prison and after being released. This will address recidivism by giving people the tools to legitimately support themselves and their families after prison. Without the skills to find and maintain gainful employment, returning crime is often the only realistic option.
All Wisconsinites deserve to feel safe in their communities. We must be purposeful in our approach to improving public safety by investing in our police; having a realistic approach to gun safety; implementing stronger crime prevention; and reforming the criminal justice system.