Milwaukee police union wants judicial change in wake of deadly downtown shootout
Police Association supports plan to allow state Department of Justice to prosecute local cases
Police Association supports plan to allow state Department of Justice to prosecute local cases
Police Association supports plan to allow state Department of Justice to prosecute local cases
The Milwaukee police union is calling for change after a fatal police shootout in the city's entertainment district.
Friday night during busy bar hours, homicide suspect Earnest Terrell Blakney opened fire on police officers near Edison Street and Juneau Avenue.
Police shot back killing Blakney.
One bullet also struck a 22-year-old woman in the arm. She survived.
At the time of the shootout, Blakney was wanted for killing his ex-girlfriend Nikia Rogers and setting her home and body on fire. He then stole a construction truck from a worker at gunpoint to get away.
Just 10 days earlier, Blakney plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old, but the judge allowed him to go free until sentencing.
Milwaukee's police union is furious Blakney was let go.
"This guy said he was showing up for his court cases, but he just plead guilty. Just put him in jail and let him figure out his affairs later," Milwaukee Police Association President Andrew Wagner said.
Milwaukee's police union president said if Blakney had been in jail it would have prevented the killing and Water Street shootout.
Now the police association thinks it's time to let the state Department of Justice to have jurisdiction authority to prosecute cases in Milwaukee.
"There's other cases out there. We're not getting the clearance rates we need and the district attorney's office is swamped. They need more resources. Maybe the state coming in and being able to do that, we can hold more criminals accountable in some of these larger instances. You look at homicides and rapes and those are really serious. You need to pick those people off the street for," Wagner said.
The deadly shootout case is making its way into the election. The union is backing a plan being floated by attorney general candidate Eric Toney, who is the Fond du Lac County District Attorney.
A campaign spokesperson for current Attorney General Josh Kaul issued a statement in response to WISN 12 News:
“The violence we've seen in Milwaukee and across the country is unacceptable. Attorney General Kaul's administration has investigated and prosecuted some of the most serious offenses in the state, putting dangerous criminals behind bars for homicides, drug dealing, and other serious crimes, and he supports having original prosecution authority for DOJ statewide. AG Kaul has also fought throughout his term for more funding for public safety, supporting the funding of 70 new prosecutors around the state and increased funding for law enforcement training, and proposing Safer Wisconsin, a $115 million public safety package. Eric Toney, on the other hand, was silent as Republicans in the Legislature used the 2018 lame-duck legislation to strain DOJ’s budget and to this day refuses to stand up to politicians like Robin Vos and call for common-sense steps to fund law enforcement through an increase in shared revenue or investing a portion of the state’s multi-billion dollar budget surplus now to help fight crime," Joe Oslund said.