Kenosha officials and residents hope to get to the core of concerns with disparity in the legal system between races and increase diversity in Kenosha’s law enforcement and justice agencies.

A discussion on Thursday with a state task force shows those efforts may need to occur on multiple levels.

The state’s Racial Disparities Oversight Commission met with local officials and community leaders on Thursday morning to discuss where Kenosha stood regarding disparity in sentencing and arrests between races. Brother John Wright, a long-time leader of Kenosha’s NAACP, invited the commission to meet with Kenosha residents.

Wright said while minorities make up about 14 percent of the state’s total population, they add up to between 60 and 70 percent of the residents of the state’s prisons.

“We need to study this and do something about it,” Wright said. “Either we have racial profiling or we have people that don’t respect the law.”

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, chairman of the oversight commission, said Wisconsin ranked in the Top 5 of numerous categories regarding racial disparity in the legal system. Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, also a member of the commission, said that body’s role was to start working on those issues.

“We acknowledge that there is a problem and we are going to do everything we can to address that problem,” Chisholm said.

Some of Thursday’s discussion focused on what can be done to keep minorities from having to face time in court.

Stanley Washington, a minister at Church of Christ in Kenosha, said he feels there is a generational gap in the African-American church and many young adults may be lacking some traditional bases of support.

“We’ve lost a generation,” Washington said. “You either have a much older group of people or young children. The young adults, from 18 to 35, are not there on Sunday morning.”

The representation of minorities in legal, law enforcement and judicial roles in Kenosha County was also discussed on Thursday.

A few people on Thursday bemoaned the lack of minorities that can be seen working as judges, lawyers and other courtroom roles in Kenosha and other areas of Wisconsin.

“We have to keep African-Americans in school and getting degrees,” Dane County Circuit Judge James Martin, a member of the commission, said. “But once they get degrees there must be opportunities for them as well.”

Wright said he was impressed by the new leadership of the Kenosha Police Department, but he was still frustrated that more minorities were not moving up the ranks of the police and fire departments. Both Wright and Kenosha Police Chief John Morrissey, who said the department’s minority hiring has increased, mentioned a perceived lack of acceptance from the community as a possible reason that recruitment and retention of minorities was difficult.

“We’re trying to improve the minority recruitment process, but I think this is more of a community issue,” Morrissey said. “Many minorities may feel there is nothing the community can offer to them, outside of employment.”

About 20 people attended the meeting and Wright said he wished more people would have attended and expressed their feelings.

“The only way to make a difference is to come to the table and sit down,” Wright said.

Wray said these types of public forums were important for determining the status of these issues.

“Our role will not be successful if we are not able to measure our success and see a reduction in these disparities,” Wray said. “This won’t amount to anything unless we can tangibly see some results. And we’re starting to see some results, but we still have a long way to go.”