New Milwaukee community prosecutor; 'addressing problems proactively'

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee's south side is getting a community prosecutor. The goal is to focus on specific crimes with hopes of preventing them from becoming a bigger problem.

Francesco Mineo is a Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney adding extra duties as the Milwaukee Police District 6 Community Prosecutor. 

"I’m here to try to help in any way that we can to make them feel safer in their community," Mineo said. "What we want to do is develop those strong community relationships and get those stakeholders. We want the community members to really play a role in this neighborhood and in this district because without their assistance, there’s not a lot that we can do."

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said community prosecutors have been around for the past 20 years. The D.A. said all districts except District 7 have one. 

City leaders say each district has its own unique issues. In District 6, one focus will be property crime.

"Focusing on those individuals who may be breaking into cars, maybe breaking into homes… things of that nature where we can target those individuals and make sure that we figure out a way so that this doesn’t happen again," Mineo said.

The goal of the community prosecutor is to build strong relationships with those who live in those districts. They will also work to provide proper placement for people who may be committing certain crimes – and provide them with things like drug treatment, or help with their mental health.

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"We want the community members to really play a role in this neighborhood and in this district because without their assistance, there’s not a lot that we can do," Mineo said.

"This is a wonderful model -- and that is both a public and a private model of addressing problems proactively," Chisholm said. "When I emphasize proactively, that's a nice word for saying, doing the most important stuff that is almost impossible to measure -- but when it isn't done, you will see its effects."

"This is a day of partnerships," said Milwaukee Alderman Scott Spiker. "A strong business corridor is needed for strong neighborhoods -- and strong neighborhoods are needed for strong commercial corridors."

"This is a great addition to the team. As I've always said, public safety is a team activity," Chief Norman said. 

"We are always committed to working with the community to address the unique needs of every single neighborhood in the city," Chisholm said.

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If you want to contact your community prosecutor, you can reach out to your police district or alderperson.

Community prosecutor news conference