Madison police shooting: Community members call for reform
Madison police shooting sparks calls for reform
Last week, Corey Ruiz was shot and killed in an officer-involved shooting in Madison. Days of protests followed by community members mourning Ruiz's death. As the investigation into the incident by the Wisconsin DOJ begins, FOX6 talked with locals about the current state of trust with their law enforcement.
KENOSHA, Wis. - As the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigates last week's Madison police officer-involved shooting that killed Corey Ruiz, some community members hope incidents like it can be a learning opportunity for law enforcement.
Michael Bell
What they're saying:
"This is just a repeat after repeat, after repeat, after repeat of what happened even with my son’s death," Michael Bell Sr. said.
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Bell lost his 21-year-old son, Michael Bell Jr., in an officer-involved shooting in 2004. After the officer-involved shooting in Madison last week, he said he sees a pattern.
"I’m sure that the law enforcement in Kenosha and Racine County are paying close attention to what’s going to happen," he said.
Michael Bell Jr.
Bell wants the Madison investigation to be a learning opportunity for the area’s law enforcement. Not just how to investigate incidents similar to this, but to avoid another one in the future.
"But the problem is, we have to figure out how to improve it," he said.
Community trust concerns
What they're saying:
Doviel Hill, a community and parent advocate for Urban League Kenosha, has distrust in local law enforcement and court systems. Many others in his community share the same feelings.
"Senior leadership, in my opinion, is very flawed here," Hill said. "They have an old school way of thinking, they are not moving in a direction that would say let’s do things in a different way so we can all be better together."
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Racine’s most recent officer-involved death was in May of last year. That investigation was conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and it took a little over two months for the investigation to be complete. The DOJ sided with the police in that case.
"I would like to see more outside agencies operating out of the state of Wisconsin investigate these things, even if it was at the federal level, where we know the bias cannot be implemented in those situations," Hill said.
Law enforcement perspective
The other side:
Neither the Kenosha County Sheriff's Office nor the Racine County Sheriff’s Office responded for comment on investigation procedures.
Racine County sheriff candidate and past Racine Ald. Henry Perez hopes more information could be given during investigations.
"The investigation needs to be transparent. The community needs to start trusting law enforcement again. They don’t, and that’s very critical," Perez said.
Police shooting investigation
What's next:
Along with the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigating the Madison shooting, the Madison Police Civilian Oversight Board will conduct an "independent review" of their own.
A specific time has not been given for when this investigation will be complete.
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Bell played a critical role in creating the 2014 Wisconsin law that police departments can’t investigate themselves. And still, he wants to see more proactive changes in the investigation systems.
"If they don’t call for it, I assure you that in five years, four years, there is going to be another shooting similar to this," he said.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story is from FOX6 News interviews with Michael Bell, Doviel Hill and Henry Perez, as well as from the Urban League Kenosha and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.