Posted inGovernment, Local news

Legislature quietly and unanimously enact legislation intended to improve policing hiring transparency, reduce bad apples

BY PETER CAMERON, The Badger Project With little fanfare and no opposition, a bill proponents hope will cut down on bad apples in law enforcement passed the legislature and was signed by the governor way back in November. The law requires law enforcement agencies maintain a work history file for each employee and creates a […]

Posted inLocal news, Police and fire

‘This is a huge step for law enforcement.’ Police unions shift stance on protecting bad officers

By Peter Nickeas, CNN (CNN) — In response to the police killing George Floyd, 15 unions that represent law enforcement officers across the US have endorsed a blueprint for policing that includes an unprecedented shift in the way unions protect bad police officers, according to a copy of the plan obtained by CNN ahead of […]

Posted inPolitics

In wake of Wisconsin’s racial justice protests, curfew tickets raise equity and speech questions

By Clara Neupert and Jim Malewitz Wisconsin Watch The envelope looked like any other — slightly wrinkled, a handwritten address scrawled across the front. But Jared Cain said he felt violated after looking inside. He saw a ticket for breaking the curfew Milwaukee adopted to regulate protests after a May 25 murder in Minneapolis seen […]

Posted inBreaking, Local news, Police and fire

Chauvin, former police officer, found guilty of murdering George Floyd

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Derek Chauvin, a former police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, was found guilty Tuesday on all three counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died last May after Chauvin, a white officer, knelt on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for […]

Posted inCommunity, Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Who’s Killing Who?

This year the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis Minnesota, caused America and the world to concede to the reality of unjustifiable murder of unarmed Black people by the police, and the unrestricted totality of the injustices of systemic racism. Frankly speaking, these murders of Blacks by police are mostly based on racial […]

Posted inUptown Observer

Kenosha activist among Time’s ‘Guardians of the Year’

This image of Porche Bennett-Bey, a Kenosha activist, is embedded in Time Magazine’s online story naming her among its Guardians of the Year for 2020. Image courtesy of time.com. KENOSHA ⏤Time Magazine has chosen a local activist as one of its Guardians of the Year for 2020. Porche Bennett-Bey, aka “Mookie Bey”, has been a […]

Posted inGovernment, Local news, Politics

Defund the police? Milwaukee eyes future amid Black Lives Matter protests, coronavirus budget crunch

Milwaukee activist Annia Leonard wants a safe community without police, and she draws from her own experience when thinking about what that could be: like the time a conflict at her grandmother’s house ended peacefully in a garden — without anyone in handcuffs. Annia Leonard is seen outside of her grandmother’s house in the Sherman […]

Posted inGovernment, Local news

Policing in Wisconsin: ‘Room for improvement,’ but could be a lot worse

More than a month after the death of George Floyd led to protests across the country, calls to reform police have reached the decibel levels of a thunderbolt. State Democrats have released several bills they say will improve policing in Wisconsin. So have some from the GOP. But with the election less than four months […]

Posted inEvents, Government, Local news, Police and fire

Mayor Mason Announces Initial Community Conversations in Police Reforms

On June 30, the City of Racine Mayor Cory Mason announced the first three community conversations on police reforms. In response to the murder of George Floyd, Mayor Mason announced a series of actions to reform the Racine Police Department to build trust, transparency, and accountability to the people they serve. One of those actions […]

Posted inCity Hall, Government, Local news

Following National Trend, City of Racine Spends Heavily on Policing

After George Floyd, a black man, died at the hands of a white Minneapolis Police Officer on Memorial Day, protests and calls to defund, demilitarize, reform, and even abolish the police have swelled across the country. Floyd’s death “shocked the conscience of the nation,” Racine Police Chief Art Howell said in a letter to the […]

Posted inBreaking, Government, Local news, Police and fire

Hate groups make a comeback in Wisconsin

By Shereen Siewert WISCONSIN – As racially-charged protests and speeches continue to sweep across Wisconsin and the country, there is increasing evidence that hate groups are on the rise. Government and advocacy organizations say hate groups are nothing new, but white nationalism has seen particular resonance in recent weeks and months. Earlier this month in […]

%d bloggers like this: