No rush for police reform in Wisconsin

So much for a sense of urgency. Following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, the calls for police reform came quickly. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers responded, calling for a special legislative session to discuss police reform. He proposed a ban on police choke-holds and no-knock search warrants and making it harder for overly aggressive officers to move from one job to another. Hardly earth-shattering proposals. At least worthy of discussion and debate. But Republican legislative leaders ignored the Governor’s calls for reform. Instead, they appointed a task-force on racial disparities and ended the special session without taking up a single bill. They did not cast a vote on any of the Governor’s ideas. Now that legislative session has quietly come to an end, with a new legislative session to begin this week in Madison. It seems we are no closer to seeing reform than we were before Floyd’s death at the hands of police. This shouldn’t be a surprise. This is the same Wisconsin legislature that hasn’t passed a single bill in more than 260 days. Wisconsin taxpayers deserve better. We deserve to have our elected officials to at least debate the important issues. Instead, they continue to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that everything is just fine.