MILWAUKEE- Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson & Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman are bringing their anti-reckless driving message to some of the youngest among us.
The duo, joined by Milwaukee Public School Administrators, addressed 6th grade students who, as part of a school assignment, wrote letters to the Mayor’s Office offering solutions to the city’s reckless driving issues.
After a series of short speeches, the group fielded questions from students ranging from how they plan to stop reckless driving & school safety, to morning routines & how to improve school lunches.
“I have concerns about reckless driving and gun violence and how it affects kids,” Johnson said. “I’m glad you all took the time to write letters and I look forward to having conversations with you about to address those things.”
Johnson mentioned how he has a wife and three young children, “’I’ve got three kids that I’m raising in Milwaukee and I want them to be able to go outside and ride their bikes without fear of bullets flying around, I want them to be able to go outside and walk around the block without someone getting in a car and driving on the sidewalk.”
According to Milwaukee Police Data, there have been more than 31-hundred auto thefts this year and 129 car jacking’s.
As he’s done in the past, Chief Norman implored those who are aware of people committing crimes to report what they know.
“You have a voice, so use that voice to be a part of the community,” Norman said. “Whether it’s reckless driving, some of the violence we’ve seen in this city, we know those individuals involved in those type of actions and you have a voice to redirect those actions.”
In recent months, and dating as far back as last year, city leaders and the Milwaukee Police Department say they’ve taken steps to address the reckless driving epidemic. In March of 2021 the Milwaukee Police Department launched the Traffic Safety Unit. Since the Unit’s launch, MPD says they’ve issued more than 24,000 tickets, more than 13,000 of them for speeding. The City also recently authorized MPD to tow vehicles of reckless drivers in some instances.
On the issue of violent crime, 21 people were injured in three separate shootings downtown Milwaukee on Friday night. To date there have been more than 80 homicides reported in the City of Milwaukee, putting the city’s homicide rate on pace to set a record for a third consecutive year.