Milwaukee’s city leaders are starting to discern the effect of cutting 10 percent of the police department budget, the kind of move that protesters and community advocates across the country are advocating.
Thomas Mitchell, the editor of Milwaukee Community Journal – Wisconsin’s largest African-American publication – says that political leaders need to listen to what he considers to be a loud call for such defunding.
“They realize, being politicians, their radar, they realize people are serious. They’re just not out here for show, but they want to see systemic change in the city and the way they deliver their services and the way those services are targeted, especially as it relates to the law enforcement and what they are doing and what they shouldn’t be doing,” said Mitchell to WTMJ’s Erik Bilstad.
“There definitely has to be a change, and the money has to go to social service programs that I think will make the job of police officers easier.”
Mitchell cites Common Council President Cavalier Johnson saying that Milwaukee Police receives 45 percent of the city’s budget, while the library system receives four percent. Instead, he believes that allocating money to those programs will lower the need for police in the long term.
“If you can solve the problem of homelessness, of affordable housing, better education, of jobs, jobs that come about because the money is going to infrastructure, bridges and roads that need to be fixed, that is going to make life easier for people in the city, and thus will make life easier for police officers,” he said.
“You will see a drop in the number of calls for, say, domestic violence, assault, robbery. If people have the basic things they need for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you won’t see crime.”
Mitchell believes the number of programs does not need to increase, but the amount of funding for them does.
“It would be a mistake not to take advantage of this opportunity for city (leaders) to allocate to programs that are really needed,” he said. “That’s what people are demanding now.”