GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – As protests continue around the country addressing the death of George Floyd and police brutality, one Northeast Wisconsin lawmaker is looking to discuss ways to change the future.
Representative Mike Gallagher calls the outrage across the country justified. But the Green Bay Republican says looting and thoughts of defunding police just don’t make sense.
“Defunding the police is not a serious position, that’s just not something we’re going to do. But if we want to talk about increasing support to our law enforcement professionals when it comes to training for de escalation and deal with mental health I think that’s a great idea,” Gallagher tells WTAQ News, “My hope is that we can come together at this moment to agree on a set of bipartisan reforms.”
Gallagher also urged peaceful protests, saying it’s an American right to make your voice heard. He says it’s part of the reason he put on a Marine uniform and served the country.
“But you don’t have a right to loot, you don’t have a right to violently attack your fellow human beings, you don’t have a right to destroy the property and the businesses of people that had nothing to do with this,” he adds.
A few conversations Gallagher is willing to have include the removal of certain tactics like chokeholds – and changes to qualified immunity for some officers.
“If we want to talk about discouraging certain tactics like chokeholds, I think that’s obviously another area where we can come together,” Gallagher says, “This is the trickiest, but I do think we can take a look at qualified immunity and make sure that it isn’t being used by unions to protect bad cops while the same time making sure we don’t go too far in getting rid of it so that good cops could potentially be open to a bunch of litigation and constantly being sued. So that’s the trick – how do we ensure that we can reform it without getting overboard?”
The Congressman has spoken with a number of local law enforcement officials about proper techniques in situations similar to what happened in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. He says he doesn’t see a lack of professionalism in officers around his constituency.
“I really do hope that we can use this moment to have meaningful reform that doesn’t stigmatize our law enforcement professionals,” Gallagher says, “They’ve been doing body cams for over a decade. The [Brown County] sheriff just called me saying ‘We don’t do chokeholds.’ They’re constantly trying to improve their professionalism, and I think we need to engage with them to determine what resources they need and where resources can be better used.”
Gallagher hopes to find ways to improve trust between police and the public – and says people in Northeast Wisconsin should be grateful for the quality of law enforcement seen in the area.
WTAQ News asked Gallagher about his take on an incident regarding Buffalo, New York police officers seen in a video knocking a 75-year-old man to the ground, along with President Trump’s tweet suggesting the man could have been an ANTIFA provacator. He hesistated to comment on that particular incident, but says the way it was addressed needs to change.
“Twitter is is rarely a forum for people to actually have a reasonable debate. I’ve encouraged the president in the past, both personally publicly, to spend less time on Twitter – but I would say the same for Pelosi and other Democratic leaders who are using it to attack their political opponents,” Gallagher tells WTAQ News, “Now is not the time to just throw click bait out there on social media. Take a step back, have a conversation in person or over Skype or Zoom with someone you disagree with, trying to understand their point of view, and then hopefully you can channel this frustration into productive policy.”
Gallagher isn’t a fan of how politicians on either side of the aisle are responding to the protests and surrounding incidents. He argues that politicizing the issues will not solve the problems at hand.
“We need everybody, Republicans and Democrats, to make sure we’re protecting that right while at the same time asking people to be responsible because we are still dealing with coronavirus,” Gallagher says, “Every political leader, every public servant right now needs to think about: ‘What can I do to de-escalate the situation? What can I do to listen?’ And let’s have a open, transparent debate about what is working and what isn’t.”
He also says it’s discouraging to see people become notably absent, whether it’s in politics or the media, criticizing Republicans for protesting Safer at Home orders during the pandemic.
“I do worry that it’s rather than having a principal position of doing what’s right for the health and safety of Americans in the midst of a pandemic it’s more of just a political cudgel,” Gallagher explains.
He challenges all of his colleagues to actually listen and try to understand the situation. He says there is always room for improvement, despite the amount of division seen across the country right now.
“I hate how politicians use the stuff for their own advantage and I think sometimes to get on TV,” Gallagher says, “I want to do engagements without cameras behind the scenes, one-on-one, and just have a frank conversation – particularly with members of the African American community here. Just to understand how this is affecting them and hear their concerns. But also engage with our sheriffs in our police chiefs.”
The Congressman has a series of meetings planned this week with community leaders and those in the African-American community, which will mostly be held in the Appleton area.
