Readers, please feel free to use this language and send your own letter to Alfonso Morales, Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department.
May 29, 2020
Chief Alfonso Morales
Police Administration
749 W. State Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233
Dear Chief Morales,
Our hearts are heavy, we are angry, and we are sickened by the actions of the four Minneapolis police offers involved in the murder of George Floyd, which is just the latest tragedy in a long history of police brutality against the black community.
Please don’t wait for this kind of incident to happen again in the city of Milwaukee.
Please don’t wait for riots to break out again in the city of Milwaukee.
Please don’t wait for history to repeat itself.
Take action now.
We pledge to you that we will do our part. We will make our values clear to our children. We will talk to them about racism in honest and age-appropriate ways. We will start difficult discussions with them. We will educate ourselves about racism. We will foster appreciation for other cultures in our homes and schools. We will work to root out the racism within us. Because lives depend on it.
Today we ask you, the Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department, what will you do NOW to make sure this type of abhorrent tragedy does not happen again in Milwaukee?
How will you ensure that your department lives up to its own vision?: “A Milwaukee where all can live safely and without fear, protected by a police department with the highest ethical and professional standards.”
We implore the Milwaukee Police Department to:
- Restrict chokeholds.
- Provide ongoing training for officers to de-escalate conflicts and intervene when a colleague is on the brink of using excessive force.
- Provide ongoing bias training for officers.
- Provide opportunities for genuine engagement between law enforcement and the people they serve to address tensions.
- Change the standard for when an officer can legally use deadly force.
All of the children in the city of Milwaukee deserve to live without fear of themselves or their family being killed or stripped of their dignity by those who are supposed to protect them.
We thank you and the officers in the Milwaukee Police Department for your service to the community. Please take action now to be a police department that we can all be proud of and hold up as an example for others to follow.
Sincerely,
Calie Herbst, Founder
Milwaukee With Kids
Calie Herbst, Editor-in-Chief of Milwaukee With Kids, has spent over a decade combining her experiences as a parent of three to create a hub for Milwaukee’s family adventures.
Her decade-long teaching career in Milwaukee Public Schools and academic background, including a Master’s in Teaching from Marquette University and dual B.A.s in Sociology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, fuel her passion for inclusive and engaging family content.
Calie is also a recognized voice in local media, contributing to WISN Channel 12 News, WTMJ Wisconsin Morning News, Fox 6’s Real Milwaukee, and B93.3.
Discover more about Calie’s journey and editorial approach on her About Page and Editorial Policy Page.
