Public Safety in Milwaukee approaching free-fall
Continued deadly violence and other challenges affecting quality of life
In Milwaukee we tallied another two homicides last night, bringing the year-to-date total to 30 homicides, and that’s just for the first 11 weeks of 2015 (just 41 more weeks to go this year!).
Even more troubling to me, is that I am hearing that criminals are traveling from other parts of Milwaukee to the south side to commit crimes. The criminals have started to refer to the south side as “the sweet spot” – a place where they believe they can steal cars, commit robberies, and pull off carjackings at will.
And all our administration can tell us is to make sure we don’t leave our keys in the car? Is that all they’ve got?!
For God’s sake, it’s absurd that we have to live like prisoners in our own homes, while the thugs control the streets!
It was six months ago that our former executive director of the Fire and Police Commission – Michael Tobin – left rather abruptly for a similar job in Washington, D.C. Yet, there is no hint of anyone under consideration to take that job (a pretty important position given everything our city is going through!). Is that hiring not a high priority, Mr. Mayor?
If this administration would be paying as much attention to public safety as it has been to advancing the streetcar, we’d be in much better shape. Sadly, that’s not the case.
Also, I want to emphasize strongly that the rank and file officers of the Milwaukee Police Department have absolutely no blame in this latest uptick of deadly violence and shootings; they are doing the very best job possible with the resources they have.
If people don’t agree with me on this statement, well then they simply must subscribe to different standards, and if our standards have been lowered so much and people are accepting of this garbage (killings, shootings, etc.), then apparently we are in much worse shape than I imagined.
Last, just please keep this in mind, folks: the best part of Detroit is its downtown.
What about our neighborhoods?!
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by State Rep. Bob Donovan
“I am hearing that criminals are traveling from other parts of Milwaukee to the south side to commit crimes.”
You are hearing? So you have no cconcrete evidence of this? You’re fearmongering based on something someone whispered to you?
Obviously there is crime in Milwaukee and it’s nothing to make light of, but the city is in a free-fall? People are living like prisoners in their own homes? That applies to the entire city?
Your constant fearmongering is shameful and pathetic. You should be able to bring attention to crime and public safety without insinuating that the entire city is a war zone where armed & dangerous criminals are in charge while city leaders cower behind locked doors.
Pipe down Bob. All too often, you cry wolf by building bogus arguments about trivial or inevitable urban events. The reasoning behind your rants are usually constructed on a foundation of fallacies, along with the usual ulterior motive of barking at the Mayor about the streetcar again.
Hey BOB, about the murders from last night – both on the North side. One at a skeezy nightclub sandwiched between a smoke shop and an urban outfitter/ wig store. It sounds like alcohol and a police rap sheet longer than FDL avenue were tied to the victim. The other homicide – a guy in a car sitting in the middle of the neighborhood projects.
Yes, violent crimes are a shame. But they are not uncommon in cities the size of MKE , especially in the shadows of the various ghetto regions.
BY THE WAY – what the hell do those 2 shady shootings have to do with YOU or the supposed surge in violent crime in your little corner of the SOUTH side?
Chill out….forget about the streetcar …smoke a cig…..and go to bed.
Do Davis and Donovan have the same campaign manager? Press Release formula: Bash the mayor, Bash the streetcar, Gripe about crime, praise MPD (except when they shoot people), and offer nothing of substance of their own. Barrett may not be perfect, but he cares more about the city than these two clowns that only care about themselves…
See: http://urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/a-broken-city/
While crime is clearly up, I do have to wonder, what did folks like Donovan do in the late 80s and early 90s when MKE had close to 200 homicides a year?
Did they sit and cower in their homes?