Task Force on Racial Disparities hears testimony from experts, community members in Kenosha

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- We got a close look Thursday, Feb. 25, at just how difficult it may be to resolve racial disparities in Wisconsin.

The Assembly speaker's task force on racial disparities met in Kenosha.

The meeting started with a long discussion of task force co-chair Jim Steineke's controversial email from last year, in which he called the creation of the task force a "political loser."

Once the panel talked about specific issues, there were plenty of disagreements. One retired Milwaukee police officer took issue with plans to take police out of schools.

"To have an officer in school where they can confide in and talk to, figure out how do I approach this, how do I go about this...they weren't even talking to the teachers, but they confided in me," said retired officer Pam Holmes. "I don't understand, why would you take the officers out of the schools?"

"Slave catching is the beginning of the police department," said activist Rebecca Burrell. "So then when we put the police in the schools, we're continuing with this mentality."

The task force also discussed a possible target date in March for developing their recommendations.