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Summer violent crime, Milwaukee leaders lay out plans for peace
The start of summer comes with a concern for Milwaukee law enforcement, and the numbers don't lie: Violent crime increases in warmer months.
MILWAUKEE - The start of summer comes with a concern for Milwaukee law enforcement, and the numbers don't lie: Violent crime increases in warmer months.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball laid out plans Thursday, June 1 to keep the peace this summer. The city's major crime numbers are trending down.
"When it gets hot, violence starts," said community activist Tracey Dent.
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Ball said she's hopeful this won't be a deadly summer, her first as sheriff.
"We have over 150 parks. We have over 150 miles of expressway. And so it’s just impossible for us be in all of those places," Ball said. "It’s important that we make sure we have that collaboration with the community, as well as our partners."
"You bring the peanut butter, and I’ve got the jelly. We make a sandwich. And that’s basically what we’re doing here," said Norman. "It’s good to have these robust relationships, and that is the true game changer: We talk."
Norman said the biggest challenge is the community's lack of trust.
"This is a different department. It’s a different department. Give us that benefit of the doubt," he said. "It’s a partnership. It’s not a one-way vehicle here. We can’t get to reckless driving. We can’t get to violent crime. We can’t get to the things going on in our neighborhoods if we do not trust each other. Our hand is out, meet us halfway."
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Dent said he thinks the relationship between cops and community has improved.
"Record violence, record death, year after year, made us realize as a community that the police and the community need each other," Dent said. "We need to put our differences aside and work on this violence, this reckless driving, so we can have a safer city."
Homicides hit Milwaukee records three years in a row – 2020, 2021, 2022. So far this year, compared to the same time last year, homicides are down 36% in the city – 53 people killed. FOX6 reviewed police crime data and found the deadliest month in both 2021 and 2022 took place during summer.
"Our message is always get rid of the guns, because they are so prevalent out here in our community. It seems like when you turn around, everybody has one, but I know that’s not the case," said Ball. "We have to get the guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them."
Ball said that means kids and people with mental illness. FOX6 News asked Milwaukee County Chief Juge Carl Ashley about the judicial system's role in keeping communities safe – specifically, whether past judges have let people off the hook too easily, those same people then coming back through the system several times.
"First of all, it has to be based on the data," he said. "I think all of our judges have the responsibility to follow the law, and that’s to look at the seriousness of the offense, the character of the defendant and the need to protect the community – listening to the victim.
"Not one of my judges sits in that courtroom and tries to do anything to diminish public safety. What they try to do is individualize each case and make the best decision they can, with the resources available to us."
A bill in Madison would send money back to local communities. The Republican plan would require it be spent on things like police, fire and transportation. It would require those local communities not cut the number of cops employed. Ball said the extra money would allow the sheriff's office to hire more deputies.