KENOSHA COUNTY – The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department officially declared a state of emergency before deciding whether to charge the officer accused of shooting Jacob Blake or not. But the answer is not yet a traditional state of emergency, but one that prepares department officials to work longer hours, according to a spokesman late on Monday.
Sources shared the memo with TMJ4 News on Monday night, and a Sheriff’s Department sergeant independently confirmed the document’s legitimacy with TMJ4 News. Following the publication of this article, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman told TMJ4 News that the interdepartmental declaration as of now only allows employees to work longer hours and adjust schedules, prior to the billing decision. The declaration from now on does not immediately lead to a curfew or other more traditional responses associated with a state of emergency.
The memo itself does not mention any specific response as part of the state of emergency.
In the January 4 memorandum, Sheriff David G. Beth declared a “state of emergency” for Kenosha County. He cites a number of reasons for the decision:
- The city and county may experience “disturbances, looting, damage to county and city property and civil unrest”.
- The city and the county have a “great interest” in maintaining peace amid “growing tension”. Human lives and property are “at very high risk”.
- All evictions and citations in civil proceedings are suspended with immediate effect
Sheriff Beth concludes: “I think there is potential for disaster, which requires extraordinary measures to protect people’s health and well-being. Declaring a state of emergency will facilitate and streamline the use of resources to protect people.”
TMJ4 News received the memo shortly after the Kenosha City Common Council voted to give the mayor emergency authority to respond to civil unrest after the prosecution decision.
SEE MORE INFORMATION:
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This resolution is promulgated as soon as Kenosha County District Attorney Michael D. Graveley announces his prosecution decision.
DA Graveley is expected to announce whether his office will accuse police officer Rusten Sheskey of Kenosha for Blake’s murder. The decision is expected for the first two weeks of January, according to officials, and could take place as early as Tuesday.
Governor Tony Evers on Monday announced the mobilization of 500 National Guard members to Kenosha.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article stated that the Sheriff’s Office had declared a state of emergency, based on a memo shared with TMJ4 News. This article has been updated with nuances shared by a department spokesman, which the memo from now on only allows to schedule changes before the billing decision.
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