Public Safety is Priority #1

In 2008, Milwaukee recorded 71 homicides, a 32% decrease from the previous year and the lowest number since 1984. This is, of course, cause for celebration. However, crime overall was down only slightly in 2008. There are still far too many Milwaukee neighborhoods where residents feel unsafe coming out of their homes at night or even walking down the street during the day. Nothing drives residents and businesses out of neighborhoods and cities like concerns about crime, real or perceived.

Milwaukeeans must continue to support the policing strategies of Police Chief Edward A. Flynn, including implementation of the Neighborhood Task Force and the redeployment of officers from specialty units to patrol the most crime-ridden neighborhoods, the use of neighborhood foot patrols, and working with federal partner agencies on gang takedowns. We must also provide the Police Department with the ongoing financial support needed to reduce police officer vacancies and ensure graduation of at least two police recruit classes annually. Efforts are already underway to postpone the start dates of future recruit classes. With the recent progress in preventing and reducing crime, now is not the time to retrench on our commitment to putting more officers
on the streets.

Operation Impact is a multi-faceted public/private partnership to combat crime on the Near Southside. Under this initiative, private funds are used to place more beat patrol officers on the street, install surveillance cameras in high-crime locations and improve lighting in public areas. Operation Impact has been highly successful in preventing and reducing crime in the targeted area; its success needs to be replicated citywide. As this effort shows, Milwaukee leaders need to think outside the box when it comes to creating, structuring and funding public safety initiatives.

Another key component of public safety is the court system. Too often, judges merely give offenders a slap on the wrist or attempt to implement feel-good social policy from the bench. Instead, the court system needs to uphold the Constitution and, to the extent permissible by law, mete out strong punishment. Judges, who hold elected positions, need to be held accountable by the people who elect them. The electorate must be kept informed of the decisions – good and bad – of the judges it elects. Also, we need to engage citizen volunteers to serve as court monitors who track court cases, particularly those involving domestic abuse, child abuse and sexual assault, to make sure the judicial system holds crime perpetrators accountable and doesn’t re-victimize crime victims. These “court watch” programs, which have been established all across the nation, provide valuable feedback to the criminal justice system and help hold judges responsible for their actions.

Finally, we need to keep our community safe from fire hazards. Milwaukee contains many densely-developed neighborhoods with aging housing stock – neighborhoods that are especially susceptible to fire catastrophes. Therefore, we must renew our commitment to supporting the Milwaukee Fire Department and its fire prevention, fire suppression and emergency medical services.

In 2008, Milwaukee had 6 fire-related deaths, compared to 14 in 2007. This was the second-lowest number of fire deaths in the past 50 years. Clearly, the Fire Department has an outstanding track record of minimizing the loss of life and property to fires. Yet, for past few years, the department has been subjected to repeated budget and staffing cuts. This trend cannot continue. Milwaukee leaders, residents and property owners need to take a stand opposing any further cuts in the Fire Department. If we do not, Fire Department staffing will become so bare-bones that Milwaukee’s recent improvements in fire safety will be eroded or even reversed. Just as with police staffing, the number of firefighters is truly a matter of life and death!