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When I saw footage of a white police officer pumping seven bullets into the back of a Black man in Kenosha last Sunday, I knew I had to write about it.
So I started pulling some data around police spending in Wisconsin and what that money pays for.
Here's what I found: (1/10)
So I started pulling some data around police spending in Wisconsin and what that money pays for.
Here's what I found: (1/10)
Out of Wisconsin's 10 largest cities, the three with a higher share of Black residents—Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine—spend a lot more on policing than the others.
I also found that police departments in those cities are a lot whiter than the communities they serve. (2/10)
I also found that police departments in those cities are a lot whiter than the communities they serve. (2/10)
Milwaukee—which 39% Black—spent the most on policing: $297 million or about 47% of its general fund.
Milwaukee's police budget is so high, that, according to the mayor, it has exceeded the amount collected by the city in property taxes for the last five years in a row. (3/10)
Milwaukee's police budget is so high, that, according to the mayor, it has exceeded the amount collected by the city in property taxes for the last five years in a row. (3/10)
Milwaukee police brass justify that level of spending bc the violent crime rate in the city is 5x higher than the state average.
But when looking at Kenosha, things are different: It has the 6th lowest crime rate but spends the third most on policing.
(4/10)
But when looking at Kenosha, things are different: It has the 6th lowest crime rate but spends the third most on policing.
(4/10)
“There are those I’m sure who will argue that the fact that we have more money in our police budget contributes to the level of safety here in Kenosha, but safety for whom?” asks Adelene Greene, head of the Kenosha Coalition for Dismantling Racism. (5/10)
Greene says Kenosha police routinely harass people of color. Tim Thompkins agrees. He grew up in Kenosha, moved away and then came back. Through it all, he said he's been stopped more than 100 times by the police. “We are not the enemy. But [the police] treat us like one.” (6/10)
![Greene says Kenosha police routinely harass people of color. Tim Thompkins agrees. He grew up in Kenosha, moved away and then came back. Through it all, he said he's been stopped more than 100 times by the police. “We are not the enemy. But [the police] treat us like one.” (6/10)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Egxe6kzWsAAOI3q.jpg "Greene says Kenosha police routinely harass people of color. Tim Thompkins agrees. He grew up in Kenosha, moved away and then came back. Through it all, he said he's been stopped more than 100 times by the police. “We are not the enemy. But [the police] treat us like one.” (6/10)")
Thompkins remembers being chased by white mobs while growing up in Kenosha. When he would get home, battered and bruised, the police would often be there waiting.
“It wouldn’t be one or two cops, either. They’d surround the whole house to ensure that we knew our place.” (7/10)
“It wouldn’t be one or two cops, either. They’d surround the whole house to ensure that we knew our place.” (7/10)
Racism is systemic in Wisconsin.
Just one example: Black people make up 7% of population but 40% of its prison inmates.
A report from last year went so far as to rate Wisconsin as the most racially unequal state in the country.
(8/10) https://www.zippia.com/advice/racial-disparity-worst-states/
Just one example: Black people make up 7% of population but 40% of its prison inmates.
A report from last year went so far as to rate Wisconsin as the most racially unequal state in the country.
(8/10) https://www.zippia.com/advice/racial-disparity-worst-states/
And so we come back to Jacob Blake, Officer Rusten Sheskey, and a city in the spotlight.
“The community will be able to heal," Thompkins told me, "but we won’t be able to be the same community.” (9/10) https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2020/kenosha-police-funding-racism-jacob-blake/
“The community will be able to heal," Thompkins told me, "but we won’t be able to be the same community.” (9/10) https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2020/kenosha-police-funding-racism-jacob-blake/
This story, with reporting and editing from @AdamLMahoney and @Public_Ade, is also being co-published with @Chicago_Reader. We hope you find it informative and useful. (10/10) https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/jacob-blake-kenosha-protests-injustice-watch/Content?oid=82446386
