Our local police officers put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe, and work hard to build trust with community members. Many of you have heard of the Civilian Review Board (CRB) that has been created and supported by the La Crosse County Board. This group is an unelected group of individuals in our community without policing experience playing armchair quarterback. The CRB rather than helping, was designed ostensibly to collect complaints about police and divert people from directly reporting concerns through the proper channels. But these appointed Karens think they know what’s best. By the way, none of them are former or current law enforcement. Little is known about their work as their meetings and minutes are not transparent, which is funny coming from a board that is supposed to create police transparency! Their tracker and end of the year report is at present, a blank page on their website.

In contrast, two weeks ago in Onalaska, citizens observed local police having a spontaneous meet-and-greet at a community park, complete with two police K-9s that delighted kids and families. Events like this aren't anomalies, they're the heart of effective community policing. Making strong connections with community members is the way a community is genuinely supported by police. But do these stories get the spotlight? Rarely. Instead, groups like the CRB amplify negativity, potentially demoralizing our force and contributing to issues like low pay and high turnover, which erode long-term stability.

The CRB just created an online form to voice concerns about interactions with law enforcement. A group with no statutory authority that only wants to collect negative information about law enforcement, now why would they want to go and do that?

Let’s flip the narrative. We challenge everyone reading this to please go to this form and share your concerns about law enforcement such as: how little police are paid in our communities to effectively retain them long-term, how our kids WANT resource Officers in their school, or how great experiences with police are seldomly celebrated. Maybe a flood of great experiences and good ideas to support our community might put into perspective their lack of knowledge and understanding of how our community feels about law enforcement. La Crosse doesn’t want to defund the police, rather we want police response and engagement. Let them know at: https://lacrossecounty.org/crb