Brookfield/Elm Grove Monthly

DECEMBER 2013 Page 6A/Freeman Brookfield & Elm Grove Newsmaker Q&A with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. Biography Clarke might run for another local office By Katherine Michalets Special to The Freeman MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. has received a lot of attention for his war of words with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and for recommending citizens to arm themselves with guns because he believes that calling 911 and waiting for police to respond is not always the best option. The bottom line, though, is Clarke is concerned about the well-being of Milwaukee-area residents and their future. Recently he told The Freeman , that he is exploring running for another locally elected position. THE FREEMAN. Have you considered running for office other than for Milwaukee County sheriff ? CLARKE: I am going to run for re-election; I like what I do. I am a cop at heart. It's all I've done for the last 35 years. It's in my blood. But I am reaching a point where it's becoming painful to watch the Milwaukee area fall into an abyss with embarrassing rates of K-12 public education school failure, for instance. Embarrassing rates of poverty 29 percent of the people , who live in the Milwaukee area are below the poverty line and that continues to grow. We have high black unemployment. In Milwaukee, we have embarrassing numbers of infant mortality , foreclosed and boarded-up homes. The thing that is really bothering me is that nobody in the political class in Milwaukee seems to have a clue about what to do to bend this curve away from urban decay . So with my proven record of solving problems as a sheriff, I am going to begin to reexamine where else I can provide vision and leadership in another elected office. I can't specifically say it's going to , be this. But, I am going to seriously re-examine this and see what can bring my plan to leadership to another elected office. FREEMAN: If you did run for a different office, would you be on the Democrat or Republican ticket? There have been some people who have asked why you have been appearing at Republican events when you have run as a Democrat. Is that something else you are reassessing if you would run as a Republican or a Democrat? CLARKE: No, because it makes no difference. It's not about Democrats and Republicans. It's about serving people; it's about ideas. It's about debates and discussions. Especially in law enforcement, there is no Democrat or Republican way to be a law enforcement officer. It happens to be a partisan office. I won't make my decision about future offices on whether it will be as a Democrat or Republican. Now, as far as my appearing at Republican events, I get invited to those things. I am the sheriff of everybody in Milwaukee County and I think that as a Milwaukee County elected official, I have no business isolating myself from certain groups of people because of their political beliefs, I think it's immoral, I think it's unethical, and quite frankly I think it's illegal. If I , get an invitation, I didn't go to these groups and say I'd like to speak at your event, they asked me to come and speak about issues facing Milwaukee County . If you look at anything I talked about at those things, that's what I have stuck to. I don't sit around and go oh, that's a Republican group, I'm an elected Democrat so I am not going to talk to them. That's foolish. FREEMAN. Earlier this year when you encouraged residents to arm themselves, did you expect all of the controversy that was stirred up by your comments? Have you felt like your words spurred people to arm themselves and be prepared to defend their homes and families? CLARKE: I expected the blowback from the gun-control crowd. The issue of gun control is a very explosive issue, but I also saw things going on in the Milwaukee area relative to law-abiding citizens being victimized and always having to be on defense when it came to crime and violence. I went back to the roots of law enforcement. We have always had a role for citizens in public safety but we got , away from that and it started back in the '80s with this rapid response and dependence on 911 and we just told the citizens, you stay on the sidelines and be the eyes and ears and we'll take care of it. FREEMAN: When you Well, that formula no say that you are exploring other opportunities where longer works. So I just reminded the public that they you could play an imporplay a role and we have to tant role to help change define what that role is and things and improve what they have to be active particiyou are seeing, would you pants. ... And they have to then even possibly look at a have the tools to do it, which state or nationally elected is the arming part of it. And they have to be prepared to do position or are you still this thing and I have made it focused on the county clear this is your duty and level? your responsibility . CLARKE: I believe, and always have, what Tip FREEMAN: Do you feel O'Neill, former speaker of the like there have been a lot of House, said: All politics are people who have been local. That is where things responsive and followed actually get done. So I am heed? specifically talking about CLARKE: Oh, tremendous some local office and that acceptance of it. People could include something in understand that it's their the Legislature, but not statewide. The problems that I civic duty and they were . mentioned that I am focusing refreshed, really That's the reaction I got and it was overon are local problems that Washington or even the state whelming – that they said finally a law enforcement offiof Wisconsin can't do too cer gets it and has the much about. courage to remind us of that and to actually come out and say it, because it's not something you really hear from law enforcement executives. It's always call 911 and wait for us to show up. FREEMAN: Your differences with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele are well-known, everything from safety on public buses to the sheriff's department budget. Do you feel like you are still able to accomplish your goals despite these differences? How important is it for the Milwaukee County sheriff and the county executive to work together? CLARKE: Results are more important to me and more important to the people of Milwaukee County than people playing nice in the sandbox. Friction has always been a part of our democratic process. It was built in by the Founding Fathers. They wanted friction. They wanted a separation of powers. They wanted shared power. They wanted respect for the rule of law. In a democratic society you , are always going to have point and counterpoints, views and counterviews. You are going to have voices of dissent. That is healthy So I hear this . working along and getting along, that's not what a constitutional republic, a democratic society is all about. And so really what this comes down to in terms of Abele and I is different schools of thought. Again, because the last time everyone got along in Milwaukee County we ended up with , a pension scandal. Nobody had the will to say: "Stop, stop. What are we doing here?" Nobody questioned it inside Milwaukee County government. You need voices of dissent. What I have and what I bring to the table is a counter view. I bring dissent to the discussion because it causes people to challenge their own orthodoxy and the prevailing orthodoxy even causes me to challenge mine. If everyone is just nodding their head, then is any thinking really going on? The one thing I bristle at with County Executive Abele is his lack of respect for the rule of law and shared power. The sheriff's authority is codified in the state Constitution and is codified in state law Name: David A. Clarke Jr. Age: 57 Occupation: Public servant – sheriff of Milwaukee County Education: Marquette University High School; bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice management from Concordia University; M.A. in security studies from the Photo courtesy of Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, in Monterey, Calif. Family: Married to Julie Clarke Get to know ... Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, Jr. My greatest achievement is: being named the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Sheriff of the Year for 2013 by my colleagues. My favorite book is: "My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir." The book spans the life of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from childhood in the Deep South being raised by his grandfather to his nomination as the second black justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. My favorite TV show is: "South Park" – love its political incorrectness. My favorite movie is: "War Horse." My favorite childhood memory is: going with my dad to watch him skydive. The person I most admire is: my dad, David A. Clarke Sr. Three words people describe me are: confident, consistent, straightforward. The worst job I had as a teenager: I was raised to believe that no job is bad. The food I like best is: Italian, especially cream sauce dishes. My favorite hobby is: reading for knowledge. My goals for the year are: to be better at what I do today than I was yesterday; continually pursuing excellence. My favorite music group is: country singer George Strait. My pet is: two of them, my Rottweiler Zoo-kess and my horse Ranger. My favorite vacation place is: Ixtapa, Mexico. and is codified in court decisions. Abele wants me to be accountable to him, but I am not accountable to him by state law and by this court decision (Andreski v. the Industrial Commission). I am accountable to the voters, to the people of the county . I would say if County Executive Abele has a problem with the way that I run my office, and he is struggling with my autonomy because , like I said he is trying to run this office and he wants me accountable to him, he needs to go to Madison. He needs to get the state Constitution changed and he needs to get the state law changed if he wants to do that. He cannot in an imperialistic sort of way , walk in and say well here is , what I think the sheriff should be doing, what I think the sheriff should be concentrating on. The rule of law says no, you can't. So really what I am sticking up for is the rule of law. going to arrest our way out of this. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide in trying to combat drug use. I, personally think that , drug use is a public health issue. Drug dealing might be a crime issue, but drug use is a public health issue. So the answers to how we keep people from getting involved in drug use really have to come from public health officials and the experts in that, but on one hand, law enforcement goes out and we conduct these drug operations where we arrest people and we seize large amounts of money we seize large , amounts of drugs, but the availability doesn't seem to go down. So we're really chasing our tail. And we're measuring the wrong things in terms of how effective we are if we look at the amount of money seized and the amount of drugs seized because there is twice that much coming right FREEMAN: Have you behind it. I think we need a seen a rise in heroin use in new model. I think the war Milwaukee County? on drugs by law enforcement CLARKE: This is becoming has been lost. widespread. We are a mobile I am not saying give up. I society now. The issue of am saying we need a new drug use has not gotten betmodel with an emphasis, I ter. Law enforcement, I believe, on education of believe, has to re-examine the young people to keep them way we're going at this prob- from getting involved in the lem of drug use. We are never first place. BRING YOUR NIGHT TO LIFE. MILWAUKEE'S BEST DINING, BARS, LIVE MUSIC AND HIGH-ENERGY GAMING ALL UNDER ONE ROOF. BRING YOUR NIGHT TO LIFE AT POTAWATOMI. PAYSBIG.COM • MILWAUKEE • 1-800-PAYSBIG • MAKE A SURE BET—KNOW YOUR LIMIT.

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