Susan Murphy-Milano...

The family members of the victims of a shooting spree that happend in Wisconsin nearly two months ago are calling for changes to state laws, requiring more training and experience for police officers around the state. This should include every single state across the county, not just Wisconsin.  It is obvious Police Officers need more training and screening on a regular basis, not just when they enter the police force.  And as I have said before, families, wives of all law enforcement need training and services that include personal safety and services when in some cases the officer is abusive.

Tyler Peterson, 20, was a Forest County sheriff's deputy and a part-time Crandon police officer when he shot and killed six young people in a duplex. He died later that day from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds outside a home in nearby Argonne.The families of his victims want to prevent this from happening again. This weekend, the families of the six shooting victims plan to meet with state lawmakers, asking them for laws requiring more police officer training.

"I personally feel that someone to be on the SWAT team should have several years' experience as a police officer... preferably around three years," said Kim Keepers, the aunt of victim Katrina McCorkle.

Peterson was a SWAT team member his first year as a sheriff's deputy.

Keepers says the families also believe officers shouldn't be turned out on their own as rookies.

"I'd like to see at least a one-year internship done for someone coming out of school, becoming a police officer, being partnered with a more experienced officer."

Right now, most law enforcement agencies around the state offer field training to officers for the first 14 to 16 weeks right out of the police academy, meant to ease them into the real world, and officers are typically on probation for at least a year after being hired.

But the families want to make all of this mandatory -- mandated by state law.

"It needs to be done. We need to take care of and protect," Keepers said.

State Senator Dave Hansen is working to draft legislation that would require psychological testing for all new law enforcement hires.

The families would also like to see repeated psychological testing throughout an officer's career in an effort to prevent other families from going through what they are.

"There's just such a big emptiness and just such a big hollow, and you can't forget them. They're in your memory and your thoughts every day." Source: WBAY.com