LISTEN: La Crosse DA Tim Gruenke on police oversight, hate crime and releasing names of jurors

Covered a lot of interesting topics with La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke on Wednesday.

Gruenke, who’s been the DA for 14 years, stopped by the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk PM to discuss how crime has changed since he began.

We also discussed whether jurors’ names should or shouldn’t be made public — something WIZM’s Scott Robert Shaw had discussed last week — in the wake of the Derek Chauvin trial and the upcoming Kim Potter trial. It was also an issue in the Todd Kendhammer case a few years back.

Gruenke explained the hate-crime enhancer in a recent incident at Copeland Park against a transgender child, as well as the possible citizens police oversight board.

He also gave us quick updates on the triple homicide in the county and the Todd Kendhammer murder appeal, both of which occurred on County M north of West Salem, Wis. The Kendhammer appeal takes place next week, while the two suspects in the triple homicide are in court Friday.