May 20, 2022 – Slinger, WI – Crime. It is no secret that we have seen a stunning increase of it in the last couple of years. Whether it be the destruction of our State Capitol grounds, the outright lawlessness of the rioters in Kenosha, or the disgraceful increase in homicides in Milwaukee, we have seen what a soft-on-crime approach can mean for our communities. We saw firsthand what the consequences of such policies are on November 21, 2021, when Darrell Brooks allegedly committed the Waukesha Christmas Parade Massacre.
Sadly, the neglect of law and order in Milwaukee is only making the problem worse.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner recently stated in a tweet on May 16 that there have been 18 homicides in just 15 days. This, combined with a shooting that injured 21 people on May 13, gives Wisconsin a city which few wish to move to and many yearn to escape from. Like Darrell Brooks, some of the individuals responsible for the shootings on May 13 were out on stunningly low bail. These trends are not new, as Milwaukee has seen an historic and alarming increase in violent crime over the last two and a half years.
While Washington County, sadly, has not gone untouched by the soft-on-crime approach of Milwaukee, our great Washington County police officers do a tremendous job of keeping our communities safe. I often speak to the Chiefs of Police in municipalities that are in the 58th Assembly District and Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis, and I value their insight on everything from the sentences of crimes to the well-being of police officers.
In a time where police officers seem to be wholly villainized, it is more important than ever to recognize the importance of the work our law enforcement officers do, work to give them the tools they need to do their job in the most effective and efficient way possible and support them in more than just a social media post. I appreciate all of the hard work they do to make Washington County a safe place to live.
Unfortunately, Governor Tony Evers does not share that same appreciation I and many of my legislative colleagues have for law enforcement. At a time when retirements and resignations among police are up and the number of applicants is down, the Legislature passed several bills to back the badge. One bill we passed would have created a law enforcement marketing campaign to recruit more police officers. Another bill would have doubled the reimbursement amount for recertification of officers from $160 to $320. Important bills like these were vetoed by Governor Evers earlier this year. This terrible decision will only exacerbate the crime issue in Milwaukee.
Washington County continues to be an increasingly attractive area that families look to move to. Milwaukee, on the other hand, continues to see an exodus of significant proportions. This important contrast highlights the differences between choosing individuals that value the principles of law and order and those who believe you can make do with signature bonds for violent crimes. As National Police Week comes to a close, it was an honor to see so many people in Washington County and across Wisconsin pay tribute to our hardworking police officers.
Rick Gundrum is an Assembly Representative in District 58.
Please also note:
COMMENTING
WCI COMMENTING RULES OF ETIQUETTE: While open and honest debate is encouraged here, Washington County Insider asks that you comply with the following rules for posting. Those who do not comply will have their posts removed and may result in being banned from commenting.
In an effort to provide a great experience and be welcoming to everyone, Washington County Insider will not publish comments and reserves the right to remove posts on social media/Facebook that don’t adhere to the guidelines below.
- Are considered likely to provoke, attack or offend others. This is known as “trolling.” Trollers know when they are trolling, and so do we. *See definition of “troll” below. If you notice a few consistent blog trolls disappear, you’ll know why.
- Are sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable.
- Contains inappropriate or vulgar language that is likely to offend.
- Break the law or condone or encourage unlawful activity. This includes breach of copyright, defamation and contempt of court.
- Advertise products or services for profit.
- Are seen to impersonate someone else.
- Repeatedly post the same or similar messages (‘spam’)
- Include personal contact details such as telephone numbers and postal or email addresses.
- Include a link or photo that has not been approved by the editor prior to posting.
- Are considered campaigning. See also “trolling” above.
- Are unrelated to the topic.
NOTES:
- Just because your comment doesn’t show up right away doesn’t mean you’re being censored. When you post a comment it must first go through our filtering software. If it fails, your comment goes into a queue for manual approval.
- Just because a comment or advertisement is on the site, doesn’t mean WCI endorses it.
- The above rules are not intended to stop criticism or dissenters, but rather to stop those who are incapable of participating in a civilized manner.
*Trolling: a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readrs into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion,[3] often for the troll’s amusement. (source: Wikipedia)