A Steady Rise to District Captain

TAKING OVER THE DISTRICT

Diana Rowe, District Six Commander Milwaukee Police Department. Photo by Benjamin Slane.

“We needed a strong captain at District Six,” says Inspector Edith Hudson, an MPD assistant chief of police. “Who could come into the area with knowledge of crime data, good personal communication skills and could interact with the community.”

The district covers much of Milwaukee’s south side including Holler Park, Bay View and Lincoln Village. Having lived in the area for almost 25 years, Rowe feels she can interact with and relate to the community.

Since her arrival at District Six, Rowe and her staff have analyzed data to fight an upward trend in heroin use and sales. Heroin is one of the biggest problems facing the district. Users are not violent types, she says, they just want that high and “steal like crazy to get it.” That’s caused extensive property damage to homes in the district; Addicts will steal copper piping by cutting it out of homes, causing flooding.

“It is really important for a district commander to focus on the 10 percent [of criminals] that will account for 60 percent of crime in the city,” said Harpole. “She really understands the concept of research, the greater understanding.”

The Milwaukee Police Department has come under close scrutiny in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other local media. Rowe said the stories are often unfair. “You know, it seems like every other day there is some type of negative coverage on MPD,” Rowe says.

Keeping her officers busy, Rowe says, will keep them out of negative incidents and negative media coverage. “It’s very important for officers to have good direction. What to do when not on calls. They need that vision and direction; without it, it starts to fall apart.”

Police work is not all about the glamorous dramas of taking down the bad guys. Most of the work is mundane, while the exciting stuff is “about five percent of the job,” she says. “Those are nice moments though, the ones we remember and talk about.”

Typical calls are about nuisance properties or liquor license violations. Tony Zielinski, Milwaukee’s 14th district alderman, has worked with Rowe on both problems in Bay View. “She is very accessible and a real go-getter,” he says. “She is really hard working.”

So far this year, crime in District Six has dropped 24 percent for Part I crimes which include murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, while property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

Even though the crime data is still in raw form, Harpole says this drop in crime is a remarkable figure.

In an example of her proactive approach, Rowe held a community meeting at Saint Veronica’s Parish in March on the reintegration of newly released sex offenders in the Bay View area. At the meeting, citizens were encouraged to ask questions and share concerns. In turn, officers offered advice and some insight into the department’s day-to-day efforts to keep the sex offenders under supervision.

Bay View Neighborhood Watch member Chris Allen is the group’s social media coordinator and has talked with Captain Rowe about neighborhood concerns and solutions. “The captain has continued to be easily accessible,” Allen says. “People whine about things without contacting the police; it should be a tool.”

Although police captains can have unpredictable schedules, the job does offer Rowe more freedom to become more active in the lives of her children. From fishing to basketball, Rowe tries to be there.

Rowe served as Treasurer of the Home & School Committee for Saint John the Evangelist school in Greenfield, and currently serves as the Parent Coordinator.

“I value her participation in our program,” says Principal Mary Laidlaw-Otto, “and I am sure that makes her a better person in her work.”

Rowe says that when she was younger that she was guided by the moral values imparted by her parents and her Catholic upbringing. “We had nuns in our school,” she recalls. “And those values get instilled in you.”

But some of that is lost today, she says.“There is a breakdown of social structure. If kids were instilled at a younger age with more traditional values a big part of the crime related problems would disappear.”

Rowe says she has no plans to leave District Six, and she is a fixture in the neighborhoods and communities. Every morning on the way to district headquarters she stops to get a cup of coffee from McDonald’s.

“Good morning captain,” says the clerk. He doesn’t have to ask her order, he knows it by now.

Medium, three creams, for Captain Rowe.

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