By M.D. Kittle
MADISON — The chairwoman of a La Crosse County subcommittee looking to form a police oversight board seems to detest police.
That’s nothing new in the wake of a far left, cop-hating movement that exploded after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
But the antipathy from Joella Striebel, a member of the La Crosse County Criminal Justice Management Council, is alarming to members of the law enforcement community and those who still believe in the importance of police
In one post on her Facebook page, Striebel shows off her new tattoo — a police riot helmet split in two with what appears to be a plant growing between the smashed remains.
“Strong communities prove police obsolete. Another world is possible,” Striebel’s post declares. And then she adds, “All cops are bound to a system of violence and oppression.”
Quite a sentiment from a member of a committee that is trying to create a police oversight board.
Sources tell Empower Wisconsin that Striebel and her defund-the-police allies are trying to push ahead as if the oversight board is a foregone conclusion. Several La Crosse County and city leaders and residents have raised concerns about the makeup of the board and the radical bent of potential members like Striebel.
The La Crosse Professional Police Supervisors and Non-Supervisors associations have publicly stated their opposition, saying the board would be redundant. La Crosse, like most cities, has long had a Police and Fire Commission.
“It is our opinion that those seeking to establish a ‘police oversight board’ are truly seeking the authority to swing a sledge; when the hammer they already have has proven reasonable,” the statement says.
It’s hard to disagree when one of the most anti-police members of the community is leading the effort to create a board that has power over law enforcement.
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-10
“Strong communities prove police obsolete. Another world is possible,” Striebel’s post declares. And then she adds, “All cops are bound to a system of violence and oppression.”
Law enforcement provides the opportunity for communities to be strong by dealing with the dregs who want to leech off of the hard work and sacrifice of the taxpayers, which sounds like the job description for an applicant for the “oversight board”.
Well, I doubt she has to worry about being raped so her lack of need for police is understandable…