"We've identified the worst:" MPD to receive $300K grant to target the city's most violent offenders

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Police Department is set to receive a nearly $300,000 grant aimed at reducing gun violence. On Thursday, January 7th, the department presented its plan for the funds to some members of the Milwaukee Common Council.

It's no secret gun violence is taking its toll on the streets of Milwaukee.

"Gun violence is one of the biggest challenges right now in some areas of the city," said William Jessup, inspector of police with the Milwaukee Police Department.

But with the help of a nearly $300,000 DOJ grant, Milwaukee police have a plan to crack down on the core of the problem. They shared that vision with the members of the city's Public Safety Committee.

"We've identified, of the 47,000 offenders in the city of Milwaukee in the last five years relative to gun offenses, we've identified the very worst," said Jessup.

They've set their sights on the 20 people they say are the worst of the worst.

"They're not scared to use a gun. They're not scared to carry a gun, and they're not scared when they're in confrontation with the police," said Captain Alfonso Morales with MPD.

Not only are they not afraid to pull a gun, they're also not afraid to commit other crimes. Police say the list includes people involved in drug offenses, carjackings and armed robberies.

"Our goal on these top 20 is to put them away -- to lock them up and use them as a message to the rest of the community and the other ones that are going to try to follow," said Morales.

They're expecting the effort to show results very quickly -- but not instantly.

"The message is going to trickle down that people are going to be watching and that you're going to be taken off the streets," said Mallory O'Brian, director of Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, and assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Officials with the Milwaukee Police Department say they've chosen to initially focus on 20 people because that's a manageable number to start with. As some of those people are removed from the list, others will replace them.