At the City-County Common meeting today, elected officials from the city council and county board are set to question law enforcement regarding their response to the protests and riots in #LNK on May 29-31.
Chief Jeff Bliemeister said he'll discuss what he can, but adds there are ongoing tort claims and criminal investigations going on related to those events that may curtail what he can divulge publicly.
At least one of the tort claims was filed on behalf of Elise Poole, who was hit in the face by a projectile near 12th and H streets on May 31.
Elise told me doctors said the bones in her face resembled "eggshells" when they treated her that night. journalstar.com/news/local/cri…
Elise told me doctors said the bones in her face resembled "eggshells" when they treated her that night. journalstar.com/news/local/cri…
Speaking on policy reform, Bliemeiester says LPD already banned on respiratory restraints. He said the dept is also examining eliminating vascular restraints, which have been used 14 times in the last 5 years.
But he says he worries about what happens when that tool is gone.
But he says he worries about what happens when that tool is gone.
Bliemeister says any change to police policy should be done using research and data, and not in the emotion of the moment. He asks elected leaders to advocate for the citizens on oversight issues, but to support law enforcement moving forward.
Sheriff Terry Wagner says the department "ran out of people very quickly" on the May 29-31 weekend because staff went on 12 hour shifts. He says there was $60,000 in OT approved and most worked 14 days w/o a day off.
"That was a huge issue," he said.
"That was a huge issue," he said.
Wagner says the respiratory chokehold has been banned in LSO, but the vascular restraint has not. LSO has also not banned shooting at a moving vehicle, but discourages deputies from doing so.
Wagner says law enforcement officers of color often take more harassment from the community than white officers. He also says with all the support he heard after the protests/riots, he thought there would be more applications to the sheriff's office, but that's not the case.
Wagner finishes by urging the City Council/County Board to to keep politics out of law enforcement moving forward as they examine potential reforms.
The sheriff is scheduled to be the keynote guest at the local GOP meeting later this month:
The sheriff is scheduled to be the keynote guest at the local GOP meeting later this month:
That email was from the local GOP chair, Jason Jackson -- not Wagner.
City County Common moves to adjourn, but someone from the crowd wants to ask a question. Council President Jane Raybould explains there is no public comment at the joint meeting and tells the woman who wants to ask a question she can submit it in writing.
That's the meeting.
That's the meeting.
Here's the clip of Wagner's answer to a question about what elected leaders can do to support law enforcement, which came near the end of Monday's City County Common meeting.
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