Milwaukee reckless driving, state law loophole raises concern
Police officers folds a ticket during a traffic stop
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee leaders are searching for a solution to a flaw in state law that allows reckless drivers without a license to get behind the wheel, avoid criminal charges and walk away with only a ticket.
"We’ve had a few instances where drivers have actually hit or killed people," said Spiker.
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There is concern among city officials, who point to several reckless driving cases in which the driver did not have a license. Alders met with Milwaukee Police Department leaders on Thursday in hopes of finding a fix.
"We want to see some accountability, we want to see some sense of urgency," Ald. Scott Spiker said. "We want to make sure that everybody is rowing in the same direction on this problem of reckless driving."
Milwaukee City Hall
Law loophole
A loophole in state law allows for minimal consequences for drivers who repeatedly get behind the wheel without a license.
Under the law, the second time a driver is caught "operating without a license," it’s a criminal offense. They can face jail time for that. However, "driving with a suspended license" always results in a traffic ticket – which means no jail time.
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The catch is, if someone does not pay their first "operating without a license ticket," their license is automatically marked as suspended – even if it doesn't exist.
"A sense of inventiveness, not just, ‘yeah, well people are driving without licenses and we keep suspending them,'" Spiker said. "They keep throwing these tickets in the trash. What are you going to do?"
What can MPD do?
Milwaukee police officials said the reason officers keep issuing suspension tickets is that it's the first thing that pops up during a traffic stop.
"To learn more about a person's driving record, and the rest of their citations show up much later, and you have to kind of scroll," said MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough.
Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)
Hough said officers will now be advised to take a closer look.
"I recognize that we need to ensure officers are doing this," Hough said. "I can say with certainty that some officers are. It's just not an across the board."
The Common Council's Public Safety and Health Committee plans to meet with MPD again in the future for updates on whether officers have implemented any new solutions.