Session on police accountability and transparency because of Jakob Blake

[frugal-one]

The Legislature on Monday afternoon (in Wisconsin) opened a special session called by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on police accountability and transparency. Evers ordered the session last week after the shooting of Jakob Blake in Kenosha in order to take up legislation he introduced in June that would ban no-knock warrants, mandate training on de-escalation techniques and create statewide standards on police use of force.

Under state law the governor has the power to call lawmakers into session, but cannot force them to act and pass legislation. Republican lawmakers did not take action on Monday, just like in other special sessions called by Evers on topics such as gun control and changes to the spring election in response to COVID-19.

"The people of Wisconsin don't want another task force or more delays - they want it today, not tomorrow or some day months down the road," Evers said in a statement.

"It's disappointing that there's no sense of urgency from Republicans, and it's a letdown to all the people who are asking us to lead. We have been talking about these bills for months, and Republicans have had plenty of time to consider them on the merits."

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Monday he hopes the Legislature will bring forward a package of police accountability bills by Jan 1.

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It appears the Republicans seem to want to prolong the protests, destruction, rioting and looting. Nothing will be done until after Jan 1 according to Assembly Majority Leader. Then Republicans talk about law and order. What a joke!

[iris lilies]

It may be appropriate for your state to start actions at the state level for examination and reform of policing policy. It probably is, haven’t really thought about it.

But I do know this: every police department is specific to the locale it serves. There is no monolithic POLICE even though Rob would like to have us think that.

When Teacher Terry makes the statement about how those monolithic POLICE are not trained in Techniques to defuse interactions, she is speaking uninformed of reality. I can assure you that big city cops get some training. How good are they at it? Some better than others. My guess is that small town cops like the sheriff help in Hermann Missouri probably have less training in that as they have less training in almost everything. Then there are vast sizes of police departments in between Hermann and my city.Training varies with the department and the individual.

This week we saw evidence of very high-level training as a SWAT team talked down a police shooter in St. Louis. A cop killer. It was one of those barricade-yourself- in-the- house- and -die- by -cop episodes, only this piece of vermin Didn’t die by police shooting, he shot a cop dead and then came out. What a weasel.

People like Teacher Terry can tout their various advanced degrees and think to themselves that they are the only professionals who can defuse a highly charged situation, but I’m thinking that SWAT team is pretty damn good at what they do. And frankly, I would not be surprised if some of them had advanced degrees in human behavioral sciences. It is the discipline and body of knowledge that is important, not the label of law enforcement officer or social worker. Perhaps someday we can accept that reality.

[bae]

When Teacher Terry makes the statement about how those monolithic POLICE are not trained in Techniques to defuse interactions, she is speaking uninformed of reality. I can assure you that big city cops get some training.

Our small town Barney Fife deputies receive training in mental health issues, substance abuse issues, conflict management techniques, first responder medical, HAZMAT, traffic flagging, chainsaw skills, small boat operations, and all sorts of other good stuff.

Then again, it's a small department with a small budget. T

I have been a member of the Seattle Police training facility for many years now, and those folks get even more training and supervision, or so I have observed.

[Teacher Terry]

People on swat teams especially the person doing the negotiating are not your average cop. Yes they usually have advanced training in this area. It your average cop that has a Hs diploma or associate degree in criminal justice that is not prepared for these situations hence the shoot first ask questions later mentality.

[bae]

It your average cop that has a Hs diploma or associate degree in criminal justice that is not prepared for these situations hence the shoot first ask questions later mentality.

That has not been my experience when interacting with actual "average cops" on actual scenes.

[Tybee]

"When Teacher Terry makes the statement about how those monolithic POLICE are not trained in Techniques to defuse interactions, she is speaking uninformed of reality. . .I can assure you . . ."

I think she is speaking of her perceived experienced, just the way you are speaking of your perceived experience.

"People like Teacher Terry can tout their various advanced degrees and think to themselves that they are the only professionals who can defuse a highly charged situation"

I have never heard her say anything of the sort. I think "people like Teacher Terry" and "tout their various advanced degrees" is really out of line.

People are trained in different fields and have different things to bring to the table and the conversation.

"but I’m thinking that SWAT team is pretty damn good at what they do. And frankly, I would not be surprised if some of them had advanced degrees in human behavioral sciences. It is the discipline and body of knowledge that is important, not the label of law enforcement officer or social worker. "

I agree with this.

"Perhaps someday we can accept that reality."

I think we all already accept that. We're still all welcome to discuss the problem, advanced degrees or not. Or is this no longer the case, that if we are counselors or social workers we are not welcome to add our opinions?

[Alan]

That has not been my experience when interacting with actual "average cops" on actual scenes.

That hasn't been my experience either, people who make such broad claims generally do so based on nothing more than their bias. All departments require completion of a state mandated training course before an officer can receive a commission and all departments that I'm aware of require on-going training throughout the course of an officer's career. I'm not sure why anyone would discount, that and feel fairly confident that an officer with several years experience has more training in de-escalation techniques than your average social worker. Plus, I feel fairly certain that your average social worker cannot appreciate the immediacy of threats experienced during use of force situations, at least some don't appear to.

[Alan]

I have never heard her say anything of the sort. I think "people like Teacher Terry" and "tout their various advanced degrees" is really out of line.

I think after telling us dozens of times about 3 unspecified advanced degrees and then advising us at least twice that the average police officer is not qualified due to their alleged lack of same, a person has voluntarily opened that subject up for discussion. I'm sure the poster in question would agree.

[JaneV2.0]

From my observation, very few of the egregious deadly encounters are the result of SWAT teams acting rashly. They usually seem to be reckless or purposeful acts by individual officers who probably should have been caught by psychological screening before they could join the force.

[frugal-one]

How did this get to be about SWAT teams? The point was about creating standards about police use of force and de-escalation tactics that the Republicans do not want to even discuss until after the election. Obviously, Republicans want the violence to continue and are in no rush to help it abate.