JANESVILLE, Wis. - The Janesville Police Department made history after hiring its first black police officer who had his first shift this week.
Officer Nate Heffner, along with three other officers, started work Monday. They were hired from a group of 186 applicants.
"I’m glad to see that progress has been made, but we still have a long ways to go," Sam Liebert, Janesville city council president, said.
Liebert said he can relate to Heffner being the first black man in his position because Liebert was the first minority elected to Janesville’s City Council.
"It's just one of those things. You wish it wasn’t a story just because it should be the norm by now," he said.
Liebert said he thinks the police department has already established a good relationship with the community.
"I don’t think this will drastically change anything, but I think it’s just good that there are people in the police department who now know what it feels like to perhaps be discriminated based on the color of their skin," he said.
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