Henry Redman

Democrats Propose Criminal Justice Reforms

Rejecting Republican ‘tough on crime’ approach as 'costly, ineffective.'

By , Wisconsin Examiner - Jan 25th, 2022 09:16 am
Police body camera. Photo by Ryan Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Police body camera. Photo by Ryan Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Democrats in the Wisconsin Assembly introduced a series of bills on Monday that are meant to increase public safety through violence prevention and sending more money to local governments. The bills were announced one day before Republican majorities in both houses of the Legislature are set to pass their own set of criminal justice measures.

At a news conference Monday morning, Democrats said the Republican plans are short-lived measures that take a “tough on crime” approach rather than evidence-based solutions that will decrease crime.

“It is past time for Republicans to give up on these costly, ineffective bills, which were already vetoed by Gov. Evers last session,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said. “Wisconsin communities desperately need these resources, and our constituents are asking us to act. We must work together and pass these common sense measures that dozens of other Republican-majority states have already implemented.”

The linchpin of the Democratic proposal is an increase in shared revenue funding that is sent to local governments. Shared revenue is the major source of money for municipalities across the state and, despite Democratic objections, has decreased over the last decade even as the costs of services including police, fire, libraries and parks have increased.

The Republican bills, which are set to be taken up on Tuesday, will direct Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to spend $25 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) toward recruiting and staffing local police departments. Republicans have said the largest problem facing Wisconsin law enforcement agencies is an inability to recruit new officers in the wake of the widespread protests for racial justice that occurred in the summer of 2020.

“What we witnessed, as a profession, was a condemnation of our entire profession for the actions of one,” Chief Patrick Mitchell of the West Allis Police Department said at a news conference when the Republican bills were announced. “From that condemnation, people who consume the news got it loud and clear: If you’re a responsible parent, you got a 22-year-old child and you see that the world is saying that law enforcement is no longer honorable because of the actions of one, do you encourage your 22-year-old child to be a police officer?”

Republicans have tried repeatedly to pass bills that direct how Evers  can spend the federal ARPA money and he has vetoed every attempt.

Public safety is the second highest expense for county and municipal governments, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. With a 2% increase in shared revenue funding, Democrats say, local governments will be better able to afford the cost of public safety services.

“The shared revenue program is the foundation of the relationship between the state of Wisconsin and our local units of government,” Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) said. “For too long, shared revenue has not been a priority of legislative Republicans.”

“So if my Republican legislative colleagues were serious about funding local law enforcement and local units of government, they wouldn’t be directing the governor to spend COVID relief aid — they would be solving the problem,” he continued.

The Democratic proposals also include the creation or extension of a number of grant programs for violence prevention, crime reduction and victim protection.

One of the grant programs previously existed in Milwaukee through a grant from the federal government and, according to Goyke, resulted in a 30% reduction in crime in two neighborhoods. A proposed bill would recreate that program for high crime areas across the state.

One bill funds an existing program under the Wisconsin Department of Justice that allows women and children fleeing domestic violence to receive a new mailing address. Another bill would increase funding for the already existing victim-witness services departments that protect people across the state before they testify at a criminal trial.

The Democratic plans would cost about $100 million and be funded using the state’s general revenue, according to Goyke. He said the bills are affordable because of a multi-billion dollar surplus.

Other Republican bills include measures that would increase penalties for people accused of rioting or vandalizing public property; mandating that a member of police and fire unions sit on the police and fire commissions of Madison and Milwaukee and extending the penalty for certain crimes, including threatening a law enforcement officer.

“We believe this package of bills would really help address crime in Wisconsin,” Goyke said. “It would be sustainable, long-term solutions to reduce crime. These are policies that we should be able to agree on. We share the desire to have safe and low-crime neighborhoods and communities throughout Wisconsin. And we’re hopeful that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will see that and take these up.”

Democrats introduce criminal justice proposals that counter Republican bills was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner. 

Categories: Politics, Public Safety

One thought on “Democrats Propose Criminal Justice Reforms”

  1. GodzillakingMKE says:

    Republicans however approve of treason.

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