Those are the opening words from Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn addressing a lawsuit by the ACLU alleging that his agency was racist and biased.
His comments were pointed, factual and will likely not be reported by major media outlets.
Flynn continued, “If they are wiling to risk their lives to protect our disadvantaged communities than the least I can do is be willing to risk lawsuits to do the same thing.”
Flynn said that the ACLU and organizations like them want only to “drive a wedge between the police and their communities.”
In our opinion, every police officer and especially every police chief and sheriff should not only listen to Chief Flynn in this video but duplicate his efforts.
His statements are bold and supportive to the men and women in his agency.
During his comments, which can be seen below, he outlined the victimization rate in Milwaukee and explained that “It is morally and intellectually dishonest” to not acknowledge the high rate of victimization among minorities.
“The people that actually live in the neighborhoods punctuated by gunfire and non-fatal shootings every night of the week demand effective and responsive policing” while the “concerns of the neighborhoods are never on the agenda of groups like the ACLU.”
The 2015 victimization rates announced by Chief Flynn are below:
Homicide
4.6 – Caucasian
64 – African Americans & Latino
Non-Fatal Shootings
15.7 – Caucasian
274 – African Americans & Latino
Aggravated Assault
307 – Caucasian
1206 – African Americans & Latino
Flynn continued, “This is data that the police department is obligated to respond to” and there is a “moral obligation” is to deploy resources in an effort to help these victims.
This is not the first time that Chief Flynn has stood up to groups like the ACLU and we believe that it is a model for other agencies to follow. He is not acting out of emotion nor is he twisting facts. Chief Flynn is effectively using data that would cause any common sense individual to understand the dynamics behind the stop data that his agency provides in a transparent manner.
