The Milwaukee Unrest : An Interview With St. Sen. Lena Taylor
This article was posted back in August 2016 on Counter Current News. This is an interview that I conducted with State Senator Lena Taylor just days after the murder of Sylville Smith by Milwaukee police.
Thursday August 18th, State Sen. Taylor hosted a “coffee with the Senator” event to meet with her constitutes. Along with informing them things she is doing to improve her district and Milwaukee as a whole, it was a chance for residents to voice their concerns.
One of the common concerns of the people present in the meeting was public safety. With the recent unrest in Milwaukee following the recent police involved killing of Sylville Smith. One woman mentioned increasing a police presence in the parks. Some felt this would make the parks safer. Sen. Taylor stated that “[Milwaukee] is a first class city. We need to act like it.”
Sen. Taylor then went on to inform her constituents of other issues happening in the city. For those who are unaware, Wisconsin has the highest incarceration rate for Black males. Milwaukee also experiencing lead contamination of water, in some areas the lead count is higher than that in Flint, MI.
The largest focus of the meeting was Sen. Taylor’s ” Love and Faith ” initiative. More information on Sen. Taylor’s Initiative can be found at her website www.LenaTaylor.org
The Love and Faith Milwaukee Initiative is a model designed to help ascend past our present circumstance by breaking down silos to get new outcomes using a different delivery model.
After the meeting finished up, I asked Sen. Taylor if she had to sit down for a few questions. Sen. Taylor agreed.
Below is a transcript of the Interview:
Jaimes Campbell: What is it that you feel the community can do to help heal Milwaukee?
St. Sen. Taylor: We need to invest. Invest in human capital. Focused and targeted investment.
Jaimes Campbell: What is your stance on Sheriff Clarke?
St. Sen. Taylor: I believe the Sheriff could use his office so much more effectively than the Sheriff has. He could have been an example of not over policing or militarizing concept. I think we see what that gives us, it has led us leading in the nation for the incarceration rate of African American men, and so for me I believe that the sheriff could have been an example of real community policing especially being a person of color. So it is always disappointing to me when someone does not seize the opportunity to show innovation, to show creativity to show a combination of compassion and sternness because it takes all of that. Instead of saying we need all hands on deck, and being the example of what should happen in the park, he is shutting the parks down. It is the opposite of what we need. I wish he was in tune to the individuals who are the trailblazers in law enforcement in the nation verses the same old same old expecting the same results. Do you know what it is when you do the same thing expecting different results?
Jaimes Campbell: Yes, Its insanity
St. Sen. Taylor: Yea that’s what you call it and some people would say that is where he is at, in his approach.
Jaimes Campbell: Do you feel that the Milwaukee Police Department gives officers enough training?
St. Sen. Taylor: No, I feel that there is some additional training that could be and some additional assistance that could be provided to law enforcement. There needs to be a layer of community engagement since we [Milwaukee] have such a high level of diversity, and a lack of training going on. So what do I mean by that. Ive asked the mayor for some time and police and fire commission for a few things, and I do not have that list right in front of me, but just off of the top of my head. One of those things is De-escalation training. It is all highly important for us to have cultural awareness training. It cant just be a one time thing, it has to be ongoing. Law enforcement in in a kind of war zone, and there has to be a cycle of coming out of that, and I dont know what to call that. But there has to be some way to get a break from that. Just in my job, which is nothing like law enforcement, it can be draining to see the hurt and the ugliness of the community.
Jaimes Campbell: This is the last question I have for you, What do you feel was the leading factor in the Sylville Smith killing?
St. Sen. Taylor: I don’t know that, and as a lawyer, I want the process and the investigation to happen. What I do believe is that people should call the tip-line and provide information from all sides. From the officer from Sylville and all components in order to be able to fill the case on the facts, so we can know the truth and deal with those issues going forward
Jaimes Campbell: So basically just allow the system to play out?
St. Sen. Taylor: But help, But help the system and the process. make sure that information is adequately provided so we can go from there. But what I will say is that I believe that people were speaking about wanting justice and demanding justice and not making the best choices on necessarily getting there but maybe feeling like they didn’t have many options on how to get there. We have to help people know how to navigate, it is something that is important. I also believe that there is room for more community relations training on the part of the police. But i also think there is something that could exist different in how we choose behavior and choices that we make, you know whether it is the best thing to run or not run. But when you consider his previous issues he had with the police then maybe that’s why he ran. We don’t know. We have to wait until the tape is released.
Jaimes Campbell: Thank you for your time St. Sen. Taylor.
Update: The officer that shot and killed Sylville Smith has been arrested on separate charges not pertaining to this case. Look out for more articles on the Sylville Smith case and about the Greater Milwaukee Area in general here at The Rust Belt Tribune.