Police officers have a vey, very tough job. When many people have a problem, they will call the police when there is no other obvious choice. Police tend to be the problem solvers for society in general. I remember my days as a police officer and some of the calls we were dispatched to. Family trouble calls would seem simple to most people but can be extremely dangerous. On one occasion we were dispatched to trouble with a subject battering his girlfriend. Once upon arrival we separated the man and woman with my partner and talking to each. The woman has obvious injuries to her face and appeared to have been in a fight with her boyfriend. The male denied hitting her and stated she fell against the wall as they were struggling with each other. The female also tried to downplay her injuries stating they were not on purpose.
The DV law was set up to help women and others, so they did not have to press charges because it was an automatic arrest. When I first came on the job, we did not have that law and would go back to homes many times with the woman refusing to file charges. Some women were battered several times, and some killed which led to this law. We advised the male that he was under arrest and put the handcuffs on him. The lady was terribly upset and jumped on my partner’s back trying to get her boyfriend free from us. We finally got her off and advised her this is the law we do not have a choice. I also advised her she would get a break and not go to jail herself interfering with our arrest. We gave her the DV information and advised her she would receive a telephone call when he was let out of jail. In addition, he would have a no contact order advising not to call or try to contact her in any manner.
So, as you can see on any given day police work can be very unpredictable and dangerous. That is why the situation with the firearms that police officers in Milwaukee carry needs to be taken care of ASAP. They carry a firearm called the Sig Sauer P320. The department went to this firearm in 2018. On three separate occasions the firearm has accidently gone off while still in the officer’s holster. On two of the occasions an officer close by was hit by a round from the gun and injured. The third time no was inured by the round being fired. The police union has asked the department to change to a different firearm, but the department has not acted so far. Before more officers and/or citizens are injured or killed this should be taken care of. Just one last thing other departments around the country have had similar problems with this firearm.