By Earnell Lucas
Earnell Lucas, candidate for Milwaukee County Sheriff.
We need a new vision for public safety in our county. For the past sixteen years, we have witnessed a failed model of leadership in our Sheriff’s Office, one that places the self-interest of individual politicians above the best interests of the people. Meanwhile, patrols have been cut from our highways and from our parks, and conditions in the Milwaukee County Jail deteriorated to a point where seven people died in the jail within eighteen months.
The people of Milwaukee County deserve a new Sheriff who will restore honor, integrity and the public’s trust to the Sheriff’s Office. As your next Sheriff, I will reform the jail and embrace principles of restorative justice. I will operate the jail as a secure and humane facility, supervised by trusted commanders and staffed by highly-trained correctional officers and experienced medical professionals. Under my supervision, everyone detained in the jail will promptly receive the resources and medical attention they need to remain safe and healthy. Furthermore, I will partner with the District Attorney’s Office and the courts to ensure that individuals facing acute mental health challenges are not detained in our facility, and receive the services they need in the community.
As Sheriff, I will reprioritize public safety. I will end the current administration’s practice of understaffing the Traffic Enforcement Unit. Under my leadership, the Sheriff’s Office will restore a trusted public safety presence throughout our freeway system, keeping commuters safe from reckless, intoxicated and wrong-way drivers. I will implement strict internal policies to ensure that the only drivers stopped by the Sheriff’s Office are drivers who are breaking the law. Under my administration, the Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate racial profiling of any kind, and violators will be swiftly and publicly held accountable.
By partnering with the residents of Milwaukee County, I will work to build a strong and safe community for all. I will put an end to the lax oversight of Sheriff’s Office foreclosed property sales, which have allowed abusive landlords to exploit our community. I will collaborate with neighborhood activists and block watch groups to create a Neighborhood Park Watch program, uniting law enforcement with residents to keep our parks safe at all hours of the day and night. And I will create new, innovative partnerships with law enforcement agencies in all nineteen Milwaukee County municipalities, to end human trafficking and the movement of illegal guns and opioids into our community.
Milwaukee County is a community of immigrants, and as Sheriff, I will honor and affirm the rights of newcomers to this country. As Sheriff, I will not engage in 287g, I will not engage in immigration raids, and I will not automatically honor ICE detainers, instead putting all detainer requests through a rigorous review process. If public safety circumstances require us to honor a detainer request, I will ensure that the individual is released immediately upon expiration of the 48-hour detainer period.
As we approach the Democratic primary on August 14, my team and I will continue building this coalition, connecting with Milwaukee County voters wherever and whenever we can. To win this election, we must outwork and outvote those who would maintain the failed policies of the past. We have a bold, new vision for our Sheriff’s Office, and if we unite as a community, I am confident that we will prevail on August 14.
