La Crosse County to do more study of racism by police

The recent deaths of some black Americans at the hands of police have made law officers a bit defensive, and eager to make changes. 

La Crosse area police reps spoke out Wednesday during the monthly meeting of the county criminal justice management council (CJMC). 

Police Chief Shawn Kudron of La Crosse sought some advice, saying “How do we come together as people who care a lot about the La Crosse community, that care a lot about raising our families here, and care a lot about each other? But we need to be better. We need to do something different than what we’ve done in the past.”    

Charles Ashbeck, Onalaska’s new police chief, says changes in police training might not lead to immediate attitude changes, because many officers only get a few hours of training during a typical year.        

Law enforcement leaders in the La Crosse area need to listen more to people in the community who are not white, according to UW-L psychology professor Suthakaran Veerasamy, who sits on the CJMC.

“You can’t hear people like me, when we speak from the heart,” said Veerasamy. “That’s why it keeps happening. This is not a police problem. This is a cultural problem.”

The management council is planning to form study committees, to find out how to reduce tensions between non-white citizens and police.