Common Council Votes to Accept Federal COPS Grant; 8th District Survey Results

Whether or not the City should accept a nearly $10 million Community Orientating Policing Services (COPS) grant, that would provide funding for 30 new police officers, has been a topic of much debate in recent months. Today, the full Common Council accepted the COPS grant on a vote of 9-6. The acceptance of the grant comes with a commitment from police department command staff that operational changes will be made.

I want to thank my constituents who have been engaged on this issue every step of the way. Our office received many calls, emails and other communications on why the City should or should not accept the grant. To help quantify this, my office put together a short online survey and asked Milwaukeeans on the near south side where they stood on the COPS grant. The results were as follows: 55% of district residents who responded expressed support for the COPS grant, while 31% were against and 14% were undecided.

To those who reached out to express their opposition to the hiring of police officers in light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement and push for police reform, I share the sentiments that we must enact meaningful reform.

Today’s action to accept this grant was a singular vote; just one piece of the larger puzzle in what will be an ongoing conversation, and together we will keep working toward meaningful reform that meets the needs of the entire community.