Photo credit: Erin Bloodgood
The problems at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office didn’t magically disappear when its vitriolic former Sheriff, David Clarke, resigned August 2017. The county’s next sheriff will be tasked with reforming a department addled by budget problems, staffing shortages and, not least of all, systemic cruelty at the county jail, where four inmates died in a span of just six months, one of dehydration. Earnell Lucas is the candidate best qualified to address these enormous moral and managerial challenges.
Lucas’ credentials are impeccable. After graduating from Rufus King High School, he served 25 years in the Milwaukee Police Department, where he was awarded the department’s Heroism Award after being shot in the line of duty. He retired as captain, then went on to an impressive career at Major League Baseball, where he oversaw security initiatives that protected the sport’s tens of millions of fans. Throughout his career, he’s proven his ability to work with community leaders and civic organizations—something the sheriff’s office badly needs after Clarke burned bridges during his tenure.
Lucas’ primary opponent, Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt, was Clarke’s second in command. His unconscionable silence while serving under Clarke speaks louder than any promises he’s made to clean up the department. Schmidt has also expressed extreme views far out of touch with the mainstream, let alone the Democratic Party. An evangelist minister who graduated from an unaccredited religious college, he believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old and, in a podcast recorded just last fall, advised victims of domestic violence to stay in their marriages and “submit” to their abusers. We are disappointed in Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele for not rescinding his support of Schmidt considering such appalling comments.
Milwaukee County already survived one extremist conservative in its sheriff’s office; it is time for the department to set a new course. Lucas has earned the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Working Families, Voces de la Frontera, Milwaukee Area Labor Council and Milwaukee Police Supervisors Organization. We’re proud to stand with them in our support.
The primary race for Milwaukee County Sheriff is one of several items on the ballot on Aug. 14. See all of our endorsements here.
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