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County police oversight board could be formed soon

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La Crosse County is moving ahead with plans to start a police oversight board. 

A study committee declares that a special panel is needed to review civilian complaints of misconduct by police within the county. 

Monica Kruse, the county board chair, presented the study results to the criminal justice management council on Wednesday.

The former chair of the study committee, Joella Striebel, quit the justice council after reporting that she was harassed by police union members for her comments on police work.       

Striebel spoke at the justice council meeting, saying that local residents have expressed a need for a board to hear their own complaints about police:

“I personally in the last month have had five different people reach out to me…saying I had something happen to me and I’m not sure what to do,” Striebel said. “The fact that those complaints are not getting to the point where law enforcement leaders are even hearing about them demonstrates the need for this sort of oversight board.”

Kruse says she has heard a similar story recently, from someone who served on the county board. She says that person “ended up having police drive by her house frequently during the day, she lives in the cul-de-sac, they would come around and drive through the neighborhood.”

Another committee will now have to be formed to decide how a police oversight board will operate.       

     

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Nick Berry

    May 20, 2021 at 11:32 am

    I was a council member of a Northern Kentucky city in the 90’s. I led the charge with the police chief to put cameras in the cars. We put in place penalties if an officer did not have it on especially during traffic stops.
    I also would ride with the police including in the wee hours of the morning to get a sense of what it was like to be on patrol.
    If this does not happen in LaCrosse this oversight board will cripple itself.
    If officers are harassing residents, there should be action taken to have it stop u on to and including suspension

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