Reckless Driving Convictions Surge Under City Attorney Goyke

City Attorney Evan Goyke speaks at Tuesday’s reckless driving press conference. Photo taken Oct. 1, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.

Before City Attorney Evan Goyke took office, a driver cited for reckless driving had only a one-in-six chance of being convicted of the initial charge. Sixty-five percent of cases, according to Goyke, ended with a reduced charge.

Now, after a deliberate policy change, those cited for reckless driving are convicted of the offense in almost five out of six cases.

“When I took office, I made a commitment that the City Attorney’s Office would be a more effective prosecutor of reckless driving. These numbers are the proof,” said Goyke in a press release. “We stopped plea bargaining reckless driving charges. We are taking cases to trial. We are achieving convictions. And now repeat reckless drivers in Milwaukee know that a second offense can mean criminal prosecution. That is a real consequence, and it is working.”

Goyke was elected in April 2024, replacing one-term City Attorney Tearman Spencer, who was plagued by high staff turnover and now faces criminal charges for his alleged misconduct in office.

In October 2024, Goyke stood side by side with Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, Common Council President José G. Pérez and then-Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern to announce a crackdown on reckless driving.

Under the plan, enabled in part by a state law change to increase penalties for repeat offenders, the City Attorney’s Office would prosecute first offenses to the full extent of the law, and the District Attorney’s Office would prosecute repeat offenders as criminal offenses.

“We will not amend or dismiss these tickets, whether it’s a conviction through a trial or through a plea,” said Goyke at the time. “It’s about holding these individuals accountable and achieving results and safer streets (in) the City of Milwaukee.”

“This is what a coordinated enforcement policy looks like in practice: a clear agreement between the City Attorney’s Office, Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, elevated case review, officer training on evidentiary standards and prosecutors who hold the line in court,” wrote Goyke in the June 11 issue of his office’s new City Counsel newsletter.

Progress on citing and convicting the worst offenders is part of the mayor’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate deaths on the city’s streets. Johnson, in his first act in office, declared reckless driving a public safety crisis.

Last week, the city held its first Vision Zero summit to discuss cross-discipline strategies and examine impacts. The mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, Emily Jabbour, spoke about how her city was the first U.S. city to achieve the goal of zero deaths.

“Reckless driving is a complex problem. Road design matters. Education matters. Community investment matters. But enforcement and prosecution are the piece of this puzzle that belongs to us, and we are committed to doing that piece at the highest level,” said Goyke.

The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for data on how state-level prosecutions have changed since the policy was announced.