Police officers in the city of Kenosha won't be equipped with body cameras until 2022, the mayor said Monday following a shooting in which a Black man was shot multiple times by police officers.
Jacob Blake, 31, was hospitalized in serious condition following the shooting by officers Sunday evening as they were responding to a “domestic incident,” the Kenosha Police Department said.
The shooting prompted protests and unrest, resulting in fires being set in the overnight hours and damage to several buildings in the city.
Video posted on social media appeared to show officers shoot at the man, identified as Blake, seven times as he leaned into a vehicle. The officers involved in shooting weren't wearing body cameras, according to Kenosha police.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian told reporters that the department itself isn't equipped with cameras, but the city has budgeted money for body cameras in its 2022 budget.
In 2017, according to the Kenosha News, a former city alderman passed a resolution for all Kenosha police officers to wear body cameras.
Following the shooting of Blake, some Wisconsin lawmakers, including Gov. Tony Evers, have stated their support for several police accountability reforms.
Evers has since called for a special legislative session to consider a package of police reform bills that he proposed earlier this summer. The bills focus on investing in community violence interruption programs, addressing inappropriate use of force and prohibiting dangerous police practices.
In a statement Monday, Wisconsin Sen. Jonathan Brostoff, of Milwaukee, said shootings like that of Blake happen with "tragic regularity" in the United States and that he's calling for "meaningful, substantive action."
Brostoff outlined a list of proposals including equipping each and every officer with body cameras, an end to qualified immunity and changing laws in order to hold officers personally liable for unwarranted lethal and near-lethal actions.
