Racine Officials Pursuing Several Police Reforms

RACINE, WI — As protests on behalf of George Floyd and others who have died from police encounters enter their second week in Wisconsin, officials in Racine say they're pursuing several police reforms, including bias training, creating a new task force that will review Racine Police use-of-force policy, planning for a citizen review board that will investigate complaints against the police department, among other measures.

“Across the nation, we are having a long overdue conversation about race and policing in America. Racism is structural and institutional, and it is incumbent on us to eliminate it in all its forms. As Mayor, when I say 'Black Lives Matter,' I must also acknowledge the outcry we have heard from the community to act locally to reform our police department,” Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a statement Monday. “Today, I am announcing a series of actions will improve the make-up of our police department, change our policing policies and procedures, and engage our residents so that reforms are significantly informed by the community.”

The Mayor’s Task Force will be made up of eight members of the community and the Mayor. The Mayor is appointing the following community members to serve on the Task Force:

• Carl Fields
• Danielle Johnson
• Chuck Tyler
• Pastor Earnest Ni’A
• County Board Supervisor Fabi Maldanado
• State Rep.Greta Neubauer (D-Racine)
• Wally Rendon
• Yolanda Blair

Here are provisions that Mason announced Monday:

• Signing President Barack Obama’s challenge to mayors across the country to review police use of force policies, engage city residents to seek their input and learn from their experiences, report out findings within 90 days, and reform of use of force policies based on those findings.
• Requiring all members of the Racine Police Department to go through implicit bias training.
• Directing the Racine Police Department to put all police department policies online and make them accessible to the public.
• Creating a new City website dedicated to reform in local policing.
• Hiring a new Human Resources Generalist to focus specifically on public safety employees.
• Directing the Affirmative Action and Human Rights Commission to work with the City’s HR Department and the Police Department to develop and publicly report on a strategy and timeline for increasing the number of our police officers who are people of color and city residents so that our police force more clearly reflects our community's diversity.
• Directing the City to submit an application to join GARE, the Government Alliance on Race & Equity.