Keep the peace
Anyone who cares about the sanctity of human life should be horrified by the events in Minnesota over this past weekend. An unarmed man, after being pulled over for having an expired license registration, was shot and killed by a police officer who reportedly thought she had drawn her TASER and not her gun.
Of course, this tragic mistake happened against the backdrop of the high-profile Derek Chauvin trial, in which a Minneapolis officer stands accused of needlessly killing George Floyd through the use of excessive force. In both cases, the deaths of black men by law enforcement have sparked protests, riots, looting and curfews.
It’s tempting to look at the situation in the Twin Cities and just shake our heads. We might even proclaim that we don’t have those kinds of problems here in rural Wisconsin.
But, it would be wrong to assume that we are somehow immune from the possibility of a law enforcement encounter that turns deadly. In fact, we’d like to point out that similar situations have happened locally in the past few years — but without the tragic results.
Just this past week, a Colby-Abbotsford police officer pulled over a man who appeared nervous and upset, his hands shaking, when the officer approached him. The driver was seen reaching toward his right side, just inches away from a center console that contained a fully loaded handgun.
Once the officer learned about the presence of a weapon, he had the driver exit the vehicle so he could be handcuffed while the office retrieved the gun. Ultimately, the driver was released after his firearm was confiscated and he was told that he was going to face a charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a proper permit.
No one was killed or injured. The officer didn’t even draw his sidearm, and based on the incident report, there was no resistance or use of force needed. Everyone walked away unharmed.
This doesn’t happen by accident. Proper training, carried out with restraint and professionalism, resulted in the best possible outcome for a potentially deadly encounter.
For this reason, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the officers on the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department for keeping the peace without escalation. Law enforcement is an inherently dangerous job, especially in these tense times, but there are many great officers out there who are truly dedicated to protecting and serving.
We urge members of the Colby-Abby police commission keep this in mind when they interview applicants looking to replace veteran officer Nathan Schreiber, who has taken a job with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. Questions about de-escalation techniques and the proper use of force should be foremost among those asked of officers looking to join the CAPD. So should questions about how the officer will interact with a diverse population that includes newly arrived immigrants who don’t speak English.
Racial animosity is often a flash point for many law enforcement agencies and the communities they patrol. Thankfully, from what we can tell when reading the police reports every week, this has not become an overwhelming problem in the Abbotsford-Colby area. To be sure, there are still some trust issues among the area’s newest arrivals. When shooting and stabbing incidents occurred at the Northside Apartments in 2019 and 2020, no one dialed 911 or alerted the police even after people were seriously injured.
Building and maintaining trust between law enforcement and the community is a continual, unending process, but it’s worth the effort. As soon as that trust starts to break down, tragedies happen. And, when tragedies happen without accountability, things only get worse. By choosing and training the right officers, we can hopefully avoid the calamities we see on the news.
The Tribune-Phonograph editorial board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary and editor Kevin O’Brien
