KENOSHA, Wis. — As the city of Kenosha reflects on the one year anniversary of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, there is a sense of optimism about the future of social justice moving forward.
“People who were otherwise living in blissful ignorance to it, they’re starting to realize this is a thing,” said Na’Kia Hughes, a student at UW-Parkside. “It’s sad that it takes these moments for people to realize that, but I have optimism for a change of mind.”
Her sentiment is something shared by Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, who says his department remains committed to improving police and community relations.
“From now through all eternity, law enforcement has to keep evolving, making changes, making improvements, creating better communication,” Sheriff Beth told WTMJ. “For the next 16 months as long as I’m still here for this term, we’re going to do the best that we can, and whoever follows in my footsteps hopefully they increase that even more.”
Sheriff Beth says the city has moved forward since the violence that followed the shooting of Blake, but knows voices still need to be heard.
“I think we’ve done good, but if you look at it from other people in the community, maybe we haven’t done as good as we could do,” he said. “I think we just need to keep working on that and making improvements.”
Click in the player above to hear more from the sheriff.