In Milwaukee, Some In Black Community Distrust Law Enforcement

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Wisconsin Public Radio year-long series tracking all gun-related homicides in Wisconsin.

Four gun-related homicides in the last week have pushed Wisconsin Public Radio’s statewide count of gun deaths this year to 38.

One gun death in the past week took place in Beloit on Thursday, when 25-year-old Jeffrey Hardnett was shot multiple times, according to police.

The other three deaths occurred in Milwaukee. Police say 34-year-old Tycer Lee was killed last Saturday. Last Sunday, 49 year-old Marvin Smith and 32-year-old Wilbert Lewis were shot to death in the same incident.

The deaths of the three black men came the same weekend that Milwaukee officials were visiting inner-city churches to urge nonviolence. Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn told an audience at Mount Zion Baptist Church that he hopes citizens will trust his officers enough to work with them.

“Do we always get it right? Don’t answer that question,” said Flynn. “No, we don’t. But the vast majority of time, you know we get it right.“

Milwaukee community organizer Tory Lowe says he’s met good police officers, but has also seen the police get it wrong when a few officers were involved in illegal cavity searchers of drug suspects or other incidents.

Lowe says by and large, in low-income city neighborhoods, the black community’s trust in law enforcement is lacking.

“You can’t just say ‘I’m your friend after I slapped you,” said Lowe. “You can’t just say, ‘Hey, I’m your after I molested you,’ or ‘Hey I’m your friend after somebody dies in the back of a police car.”

Lowe says more apologies from police would help law enforcement mend fences. Lowe says he’s a distant relative of the 10-year-old Milwaukee girl Sierra Guyton seriously wounded Wednesday when she was caught in crossfire on a playground.