FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2017
CONTACT:
Rep. Sanfelippo
DOC Official Blames Criminals for Department’s Failure
MADISON, Wis. – State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, is calling for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) to take responsibility for their own inaction.
In a recent article by Fox 6, Niel Thoreson, Regional Chief for the Milwaukee office of the Division of Community Corrections, blamed criminals for – well – being criminals.
After being questioned about whether individuals should be revoked, Thoreson blamed the mindset of their “clientele.” When referring to an offender who bragged to a friend that he barely spent a week in jail after he was picked up for absconding, Thoreson said, “I think that’s illustrative of the clientele in terms of where they’re at with their thinking processes.”
The reality is that habitual criminals need to be kept off the streets.
According to the Milwaukee Police Department, from 2007 to 2016 there were 102 unique offenders arrested 945 times for a total of 2,628 crimes. The offender with the greatest number of arrests has been arrested 37 times from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2016.
The “mindset” of criminals is not to blame, our criminal justice system is to blame. More specifically, leaders in the criminal justice system need to hold repeat offenders accountable. Statistics, history, and common sense show that violent repeat offenders are significantly more likely to continue to victimize communities.
To address the issue of violent repeat offenders continuing to harm communities, Rep. Joe Sanfelippo and Sen. Leah Vukmir introduced theVictim Prevention Package earlier this year.
“It is imperative that the legislature acts and passes the Victim Prevention Package to keep violent repeat offenders off the streets,” said Sanfelippo.
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The 15th Assembly District includes most of West Allis and the Northern half of New Berlin.
