Francesca Hong stands by comments about having "vision" for a world without police or prisons
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A frontrunner in the race to determine who will be the Democratic candidate for governor stood by comments she previously made about having a vision where, one day, police and prisons no longer exist.
State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) spoke to CBS 58 virtually Friday night while campaigning in Vilas County.
Hong has received criticism, even from some within her own party, over comments she made at a campaign event earlier this month. According to audio obtained and first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hong said her "perfect world would be a world without prisons."
In an interview Friday, Hong emphasized she was referring to a long-term vision when discussing scenarios where police and prisons are no longer around.
"We're speaking about a vision, right? A vision that helps to inform policy, and a vision where everyone has economic security," Hong said. "There are systems of accountability that does not have to include armed law enforcement."
When asked what should happen in the present to convicted murders and repeat violent offenders, Hong said, "There needs to be accountability" before going on to say the court system must ensure due process and public defenders should be adequately resourced.
When a reporter followed up to ask if accountability should also include incarceration or secure detention, Hong said those were aspects of the current system, and that wouldn't change during the "four, eight or twelve years" she might be serving as governor.
"If a crime has been committed, there should be accountability," Hong said. "And incarceration and law enforcement are the systems in place right now for that accountability."
According to Milwaukee Police Department data, the state's largest city recording 141 homicides last year, a 7% increase from 2024. There have been 43 homicides in Milwaukee so far this year.
Hong's comments have received criticism from some Democrats this week. Ann Jacobs, a Milwaukee attorney who is a Democratic appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, posted on X in a comment thread about Hong, "Rich people beat their wives. Kiddie porn isn't due to economic instability. Child SA isn't due to a lack of afterschool programs. I could go on."
When asked about people throughout history having committed horrible crimes despite having basic needs met and how Hong believed that would no longer happen in a world without police or prisons, she said, "There are rehabilitation services we can be investing in now to help prevent crime and make sure that there is accountability."
State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) is the only other Democratic candidate in the crowded primary field who criticized Hong's comments.
Roys listed Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump, Bernie Madoff and Harvey Weinstein's names in a post to X that appeared to imply powerful, wealthy figures can also be found to have committed serious crimes.
"As an attorney who worked on the Innocence Project and has led on criminal justice reform for 25 years, I know that mass incarceration actually makes us less safe," Roys added. "But the goal has to be *actual public safety* in the real world that we all live in."
Hong has previously posted to social media she supported defunding and abolishing the police. On Friday, though, she said it would be inaccurate to say she supports abolishing police.
The post from Jacobs and Roys implied Hong is operating from a place of naivete. When asked what she'd tell voters who think she's being naive on public safety, Hong reiterated she was discussing a very long-term vision.
"I know that a world where everyone is safe is going to be- is not something that we can achieve in my lifetime," she said. "Maybe not your lifetime, maybe not even my son's lifetime, but a world where everyone can be safe is one that I think should be a vision we hold onto."