Statement from Milwaukee Police Association
The Milwaukee Police Association and the members of the Milwaukee Police Department appreciate the outpouring of support from the community for our brave Milwaukee Police Officers who were shot in the past few weeks. But we need more from our community.
There must be real bail reform in Wisconsin, and it simply cannot wait any longer. Our officers’ lives depend on it. Your lives and the lives of your loved ones depend on it.
Elected officials continue issuing the same statements saying, “the community has to get involved,” in the wake of the ongoing and recent violence against our law enforcement. We agree. We need our community to ask — to demand — that our lawmakers propose legislation, with bipartisan agreement, that can actually pass the Legislature and start protecting our communities.The State spends millions to screen and supervise pretrial detainees but it is not keeping dangerous offenders off our streets. We cannot continue to rely on questionnaires and forms, provided to the court, to measure the likelihood of a defendant appearing for trial if released on his or her own recognizance without taking into account the danger to the community posed by the offender or the seriousness of the offense.
What also is required is an honest and concerted effort to pursue those offenders wanted on bench warrants, as was the case with the suspect in last night’s shooting. But we don‘t want it to get that far. By the time those dangerous criminals are on the street, it is too late.
It truly is a matter of life and death.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Feb 7th, 2023 by Milwaukee Police AssociationToday the Milwaukee Police Department suffered the tragic loss of one of our officers. This loss of life was avoidable and only occurred because of the actions of one truly evil individual. This individual chose to fire several rounds at officers with complete disregard for their lives. He did not care about the consequences of his actions, including the immeasurable harm his actions would do to the officer’s family, colleagues, and friends. Not to mention the community as a whole. He chose to disregard the sanctity of human life, all in a vain, self-serving attempt to evade lawful arrest. As we now know, his choice directly caused his death, which is tragic but was 100% his own fault and avoidable. Because of his selfish and needless actions, a father and mother will be burying their son, fellow officers will miss the laughter and joy the fallen officer brought to them, and the community suffers through another senseless loss of a dedicated public servant who wanted nothing more, from a young age, to do this job and help people. Left in the wake of this tragedy are countless more, to include his partner that day, who is now left with indescribable grief and guilt wondering if there was anything they could have done differently to save his life, even though we know there was not. The actions of one individual have now caused unimaginable pain to so many. As we go through the next couple of weeks, we ask for your thoughts and prayers for the family, colleagues, and friends of our officers. We will look forward to celebrating the life of our fallen officer, making sure people know the story of his courageous and selfless act, and how he lived these acts out every day, not just on his last. We will ensure that the sacrifice that our officer made in so many people’s lives is never forgotten. Never.
