Bills look to address needs of Wisconsin law enforcement - WEAU
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) -State legislators and law enforcement officers across Wisconsin gathered in Eau Claire County Tuesday.
Their purpose: to introduce a package of bills meant to address some of the needs in policing.
Made up of nine separate bills, the package is expected to be introduced at the state capitol soon.
The bills look to spend millions of dollars in federal funding made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Recruiting officers is one issue legislators hope to tackle.
“One bill that we are going to bring forward will direct a million dollars of that federal COVID relief money, as I said is available now, to the Department of Justice and to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and it will collaborate with local law enforcement to market a campaign that we will entitle Pro-Cop Wisconsin campaign,” said State Representative Warren Petryk.
Another bill looks to offer a $5,000 bonus for new officers along with additional bonuses for those with experience who relocate from outside the state.
Finding qualified candidates is an issue Altoona Police Chief Kelly Bakken said is being seen in the Chippewa Valley.
“Prior to being in Altoona, I worked for the City of Black River Falls, and I also worked for Jackson County,” Bakken said. “It wasn’t uncommon to see 50 applications in those areas, and unfortunately we’re not seeing those numbers anymore.”
Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer has the same issue.
“Our last recruitment, we interviewed seven people--seven candidates,” Cramer said. “It was not unusual for a department our size to look at 100, 150 applications back in the ‘80s.”
One of the bills wants to make training candidates more affordable by reimbursing recruits for training costs.
Part of the package seeks to restrict counties and municipalities from restricting no-knock warrants.
Other parts of the package address showing support for officers by making the month of May Law Enforcement Appreciation month and waiving hunting and fishing fees for officers.
In response to Tuesday’s press conference, State Representative Jodi Emerson issued a statement saying in part:
“The fact that Republicans look only to federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds-which must be used for our community’s recovery from the pandemic-tells me they aren’t serious.”
She added police retention is “an ongoing problem that requires sustainable funding.”
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source: https://www.weau.com/2022/01/05/bills-look-address-needs-wisconsin-law-enforcement/
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