GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Area state legislators are partnering with Green Bay’s police chief in a push to diversify hiring practices for local law enforcement agencies. They came together to announce a newly proposed bill on Wednesday.
Under current law, DACA recipients cannot serve as police officers or as deputy sheriffs. The proposed legislation would give local law enforcement agencies the authority to adjust their department policies and hire such individuals.
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith backs a piece of legislation allowing legal residents and DACA recipients in Wisconsin to join local law enforcement agencies. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
“This is an opportunity not for right or left, or from Republican or Democrat. This is an opportunity of right and wrong. This is an opportunity to fix something that’s not right here in Wisconsin,” said Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith.
The legislation would impact people like Jose Del Rio. Jose grew up in Green Bay, but he was born in Mexico. When he was just two-years-old, his family moved to the U.S. – without becoming citizens.
“I grew up as an American. I don’t know any other country than America, so I consider myself American. Some people say that I’m not American, and it kind of hurts my feelings a little, but I’ve always told myself with struggle comes strength,” Del Rio said.
Once he received his DACA paperwork, Jose was able to start catching up with what his friends were doing.
“Once I got it, I was like okay, I’m going to get my driver’s license and drive my parents to work and drive my brothers to school, drive them to the practice – to give them the life that an American child has,” Del Rio said.
He also started working with the police department as an animal control officer, a Community Service Intern and Officer, and took as many roles as he could. He even went through training at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to get his public safety certificate and become a firefighter. But the one job he really wants remains elusive, due to his lack of citizenship. Right now, the only way for Jose to gain citizenship would be to marry into it – but he said that’s not the proper reason to get married.
The new proposal will start looking into allowing the opportunity for legal residents like Jose to become local law enforcement officers. For legislators, the change could be as simple as a minute adjustment to language in current laws.
“Right now, the state of Wisconsin allows an individual like Jose – who’s a DACA individual – to become a state patrol officer. But because of this little statute we have, he’s not allowed to become a police officer for municipality or a sheriff’s department,” Chief Smith said. “He can be at that link between the immigrant community – the Spanish speaking community – and the Green Bay police department. He’s a fantastic individual, and there are a lot of other folks just like him and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this.”
State Representative David Steffen (R) of Green Bay speaks to the media as he and Representative John Macco (R) of Ledgeview announce a new piece of proposed legislation.
“Local law enforcement is covered under Department of Justice laws and regulations. Wisconsin State Patrol is under Department Transportation, so the laws that were written to apply to in terms of the prohibition against legal residents like Jose are related to D. O. J.,” said State Representative David Steffen of Green Bay. “Don’t be confused between technical and insignificant. Just because it’s a limited amount of actual words such as changing the law. That’s what we as representatives are often doing, is making those modest adjustments of the meter that make big differences in people’s lives.”
And that impact wouldn’t be just on the individuals. It would give departments an opportunity to make a significant shift in their employment practices – and even how they’re able to communicate with certain communities within the public.
“Make law enforcement better, make the diversity in law enforcement better, make our communities better, make our community safer. This is a perfect opportunity, and I’m really excited about it…This changes that to allow police and sheriff’s, or police and fire commissions, to make a decision to be able to hire him. Right now, it’s a blanket no. This changes it so that if we find a qualified candidate like this, we will be able to hire them in the future,” Smith said. “This is a great opportunity for us to diversify our departments, to become more representative of the community we serve, and allow young people like this to fulfill the dreams that they have of serving their community that they grew up in.”
Smith also somewhat jokingly prodded at other departments, saying they can’t have Jose once he is able to officially apply to become an officer.
Jose Del Rio shares his experience as a DACA recipient living in Green Bay, and his efforts to become a police officer. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
“Change is what we have to do now. And we can go out there and make the community better. I think the community would even be proud of this, having someone that looks just like them, the typical makeup of the community. It’s an amazing thing for not just for us, but the community that we were going to be able to serve,” Del Rio told WTAQ News. “Just by having me here already, I can educate many different officers on ‘why are people doing this?’ or what is our culture like.”
That education, he said, started almost immediately. Jose said he’s already taught officers about his culture, and even what the DACA program actually does.
The bill would also allow individual department leaders to decide whether they want to implement the plan or not. It simply gets the rule out of the way to allow them that decision.
“It’s not an insignificant change. It might be a relatively simple one legislatively. But I’m looking forward to having those public hearings, I’m looking forward to having those executive sessions…My tone and tenor is when we have our private caucus meetings is that we all agree on that,” said Representative John Macco of Ledgeview.
The proposal is set to be discussed among a throng of law enforcement reform bills the legislature is beginning to address. But even those most in support of the plan, and those who authored it, say it will take time to make it through the legislative process.
“We can’t physically introduce that at the moment. there’s a point in the session at which you essentially cannot introduce new legislation unless it’s introduced by joint committee,” said State Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere. “I think this is something that hopefully can be a non-controversial addition to whatever comes forward.”
“We can either be good or we can be fast, and I would rather be good,” Macco said.
“This is the way legislation should be done. It comes out of initial discussions that take the time and space to be reviewed , and that’s how this happened. It all started here locally and it’s gonna take time to happen,” Steffen added. “If we are looking for solutions to our big problems in Wisconsin our society through sound bites and political grandstanding and shows of anger and disruption that rarely has worked in our world…Now I understand that may not get the headline. That may not be interesting for a lead story. But this is actually the way that law is usually produced. It’s produced in the cooling saucer of our activity.”
It is currently uncertain exactly when the bill could be taken up for discussion by either chamber of the legislature.
