(The Center Square) – There would be some major changes to police training in Wisconsin if one Milwaukee state representative gets his way.
State Rep. Darrin Madison, D-Milwaukee, introduced four pieces of legislation that he says would end “nonscientific and dangerous police training practices.”
“Law enforcement budgets are going towards unlicensed, unregulated technology like facial recognition. Our public resources should never be spent on untested, unsecured surveillance methods, or on law enforcement trainings that are grounded in fear and intimidation,” Madison said in a statement.
Specifically, Madison wants new laws to prohibit:
police trainings that include content on “excited delirium,” which he calls “nonmedical term often used to justify police violence and other abuses of authority.”
Madison also wants “warrior-style training” banned. Instead, Madison said he wants “aikido training focused on self-defense, de-escalation, and the disarming of threats.”
He also has a plan that would require “the decertification of law enforcement officials who violate basic regulations on uses of force.”
A fourth piece of legislation would end facial recognition technology, which he says is already being used in Milwaukee County.
“In Milwaukee, throughout Wisconsin and this nation, we have struggled to build credible, effective police accountability, even as reckless driving and violence harm our communities far too often. We are already spending resources and time on ineffective solutions instead of investing in the infrastructure, education, and direct aid necessary to beat recklessness and violence at their sources,” Madison added.
It is unlikely that any of Madison’s proposals will become law. Democrats remain in the minority in both the Assembly and Senate.
