Police Chief Promises to Focus More on Nuisance Properties, Landlords

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Less than two months after going public with its southside safety plan, Common Ground Southeastern Wisconsin has scored what its lead organizer said is a “big victory.”

The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) is changing its practices on designating “nuisance” properties, after seeing a 66% reduction in such designations in the past decade.

“Our message is to use and improve the 80-10 nuisance ordinance to make our neighborhoods safer, to hold corporate landlords accountable and to recoup funds for MPD,” said Gabriela Dieguez, a member of Common Ground and psychotherapist at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, to the Steering & Rules Committee Monday afternoon. The community group packed the meeting room with supporters.

80-10 is the city ordinance number for a nuisance designation that includes fines of up to $5,000 for owners of property that trigger three or more qualifying calls for emergency services in a one-month period. It also requires implementation of a formal abatement plan.

Dieguez said Common Ground analyzed data from August 2018 to August 2025 and found that MPD issued 991 nuisance letters, but that the annual volume fell from 150 in 2018 to 46 in 2025.

“In our analysis, Common Ground found thousands of properties that theoretically met the 80-10 threshold but were not declared such. Probably not all of those should have been declared nuisances, but we suspect hundreds should have. How much money could MPD have recouped, how much safer could our neighborhoods be?” she said.

Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, using a five-year window reflecting his tenure, shared figures showing a similar two-thirds reduction in nuisance designations.

“We understand the importance of using nuisance as a tool,” said Norman.

Norman said it was important that MPD not only use the nuisance designation but also issue pre-nuisance letters to warn the relevant property owners of the issue. “People do listen,” he said. “What we want them to do is abate.”

“Many times, once you put somebody on notice, problem abated and we don’t have to take it any further,” said MPD Chief of Staff Heather Hough.

She credited Common Council President José G. Pérez and Common Ground for pushing for a change in MPD practices. Pérez, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, District Attorney Kent Lovern and others signed a pledge to work with Common Ground on safety issues in late April.

“One thing we weren’t doing, and this has been addressed in meetings with President Pérez, was systematically reviewing our data to say, ‘What are properties that have three or more calls for service a month?’ and looking at those calls for service to see whether they qualify for a nuisance designation.”

A new policy, said Hough, requires each of the seven district captains to review each candidate for designation and, if the property isn’t designated, declare why not.

“That’s now a directive for our district staff to do that each month,” said Hough.

Norman and Hough stressed that not all calls for service count for nuisance designation purposes. Police need to verify the issue, and it can’t be related to domestic violence or mental health incidents. “We don’t want people using it to target one another,” said Hough. Serious crimes, such as shootings, do not require three calls for service in a month to make the property eligible for a nuisance designation.

She said that the city can use video and other evidence submitted by residents in court, but the incidents must not be reported anonymously.

A nuisance designation, with a written notice, triggers a 10-day requirement to submit an abatement plan. For larger properties, changes can include infrastructure improvements such as lighting, fencing or security systems.

Pérez said he would still like to see the city further improve its processes. He noted that two properties in his district were billed for $9,000 and that the property management firms are out of business, but he said a lot of harm was done along the way.

Norman said MPD was rebuilding after a stressful period. “I will admit, sometimes you take your eye off the ball,” said the chief.

“2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 were some hard years for us,” said Norman of a surge in homicides. “2020, 2021, 2023 and 2022, we were looking at some non-fatals [shootings] that were in the stratosphere. Doesn’t make it an excuse, just trying to level set.”

Pérez requested that MPD establish a practice of sharing data with the council and ensure it collects data to track the ordinance’s effectiveness.

“I want to make sure we have a commitment that goes beyond when we have lights and cameras here,” said Ald. Scott Spiker, the Public Safety & Health Committee chair. He endorsed an idea from Ald. Milele A. Coggs to have MPD report the data to the safety committee on a regular basis.

Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic suggested that MPD explore a specific portal or phone number for reporting nuisance-related complaints.

Ald. Robert Bauman, who is pursuing separate legislation to raise fines for code violations for large landlords, suggested the city may need to raise fines associated with nuisance designations. “To many deep-pocketed landlords, it’s just the cost of doing business,” he said.

Norman said MPD would support a city attempt to change penalties under state law.

The current forfeiture, said City Attorney Evan Goyke, is for $1,000 to $5,000 per instance, a “fairly substantial forfeiture.”

“Some of this seems to be a paperwork problem. I don’t know how you address that,” said Bauman of the city failing to act on its own data. Spiker suggested MPD explore using software tools, including artificial intelligence, to improve the designation process.

“We got a big victory,” said Kevin Solomon, associate organizer with Common Ground, after the hearing. “We appreciate that the chief of police and Common Council members have committed to tracking nuisance properties systematically, and that any ones that meet the threshold, they’re making sure that if they’re not a nuisance, why.” Solomon’s press conference was then derailed by the surprise appearance of David Tomblin, an out-of-state landlord Common Ground is targeting.