Cruel And Inhumane Treatment Of Police

I came across a newspaper story involving a police use of deadly force that happened in Marinette County, Wisconsin on Nov. 27, 2020. Keep that date in mind, as it has some significance to what I am getting at here. The column went on to say that sheriff’s deputies were called to man with a gun complaint. When they arrived, they observed a man standing in the driveway with a gun pointed at his head. Officers attempted to talk the man into dropping the gun. He refused and got into his automobile and drove off. Police followed him. After driving around, he pulled back into his driveway, got out of his car and again refused to drop the gun. He pointed it at his head again. Officers, feeling they had no other options, fired numerous shots, killing the 74-year-old man. Tragic all the way around no doubt. For the officers involved, that is.

Now, let’s break this down. In today’s anti-police environment some might be asking why professional mental health experts weren’t called to the scene. Do you know any mental health professional other than a police officer who would want to engage in dialogue with a man holding a gun? I don’t. The story said that the suspect was struck about seven times from police gunshots.

Important to point out that there was no outrage from area residents, no riots, no calls for the officers to face charges. Probably because Marinette County, located in northern Wisconsin, has no Black Lives Matter chapter. The reasonable residents trusted that a thorough investigation would occur and didn’t prejudge the case. They did not jump to conclusions or engage in the ritual of cop haters of second-guessing police. In other words, this wasn’t politicized.

On Dec. 24, the newspaper column I earlier spoke about wrote that the officers would not face criminal charges. You would think not, right? It said the State Department of Criminal Investigation, a branch of the State Attorney General Office that is currently led by a liberal activist attorney general named Josh Kaul ruled that after reviewing police body camera video, witness interviews and other evidence that the shooting was justified.

Remember that I asked you to take note of the date this incident occurred. Nov. 27, 2020. In less than 30 days a decision was made. Compare and contrast that to other police use of force incidents in today’s anti cop environment.

As a former investigator of police-involved shootings, I have a lot of experience in how these work and the time it should take for a ruling by a prosecutor. We never rushed these investigations. We did, however, have a sense of urgency knowing that the public wanted and deserved to know what happened and that the officer or officers involved deserved a timely resolution so that they could start to heal psychologically and return to duty. Keep in mind that they are taken off street duty and put behind a desk on administrative duty. For a cop that is a brutal. They signed up to protect and serve, not push papers or answer telephone calls. Even the most intricate incidents could be resolved fairly, completely and competently inside of 30 days. Not anymore.

In Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020 two city police officers were sent to a situation that ended up involving an armed suspect wanted on a felony warrant trying to avoid arrest. Like most of these incidents, police tried to get the suspect to stop resisting arrest while he was armed. As a last resort, they shot him to stop the threat he posed to them and 3 young children in a car he was attempting to get in and drive off in.

It is January 2021, and that same Attorney General Department of Criminal Investigations is conducting this one. There is cellphone video camera with audio that has been played all across America on social media. Numerous witnesses have been interviewed and none have disputed the officers’ actions including the suspects former girlfriend who initially called police. Cellphone camera video has been pasted all over social media giving everybody an idea of what happened.

It is now early January 2021 and six months later that same State Attorney General Office of Criminal Investigation has finally on Jan. 5 made a determination on whether or not the use of force by the officers involved was justified. They ruled that the police use of force was justified. Duh! Really? This could have been done by even the most incompetent prosecutor inside of 30 days. I’ll speak to that later.

This is not new. These determinations are taking longer and longer for only one reason. Politics. These progressive activist prosecutors are afraid to exonerate officers because Black Lives Matter and Antifa will then rain hell down on them. This is no longer about justice. It a witch hunt. Some prosecutors are willing to issue criminal charges that they cannot prove to placate an angry mob. Throw it to a jury, they figure, and let them bare the brunt of the anger of BLM.

In another Wisconsin case, a Wauwatosa police officer shot and killed an armed suspect in an obvious justified use of force and it took Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm nine months to return a finding of justifiable use of force. Nine months. The suspect was armed with a handgun with an extended magazine and lots of ammo. He was fleeing police and headed toward a shopping mall.

Think about the mental anguish an officer has to endure for six to nine months. Not knowing whether they will face felony criminal charges and whether or not they will lose their careers. They still face an internal investigation after the use of force criminal probe. Who else is subjected to this this mental torture? What other profession? And we wonder why police suicide is at an all time high? No other profession comes close.

For it to take 6 to 9 months to investigate and make a finding leaves me to conclude that these prosecutors are either incompetent or incapable. Maybe both.

More police officers should consider a duty disability for post-traumatic stress disorder after going through this anguish. When the cost to the city and county starts to pile up, paying officers’ salaries who are no longer able to provide police services then maybe they will get it. Let city officials anguish at budget time where they will find the money for increased costs of running a municipality.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com