MILWAUKEE — Overall, serious crime in Milwaukee was down by 15 percent in 2022 compared to 2021 despite homicides increasing by 11 percent.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and Office of Violence Prevention Director Ashanti Hamilton met at the Milwaukee Police Administration Building Thursday to discuss the 2022 Milwaukee crime numbers and their plan moving forward to ensure public safety within the city.
While serious crimes are down and homicides are up in Milwaukee, nationwide averages show an inverse effect. Nationally, serious crimes are up while homicides are down. Mayor Johnson says “we need everybody to help” in order to level-out those numbers.
“We have put that challenge out there to the community to say ‘Hey, we need your help,'” Johnson said. “Before somebody goes out there and does something bad, they’re leaving somebody’s house.”
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Norman said that fighting to dwindle the homicide number in Milwaukee is a “collaborative effort ” among city leaders, police and the community.
“How do you place an officer in a home, like today, where a grandfather was not happy that money came up missing and his own grandson was killed?” Chief Norman asked. “How do you engage in a situation where you have brother-and-brother and they have a disagreement over property that leads to a deadly result?”
According to Norman, interpersonal disputes make up a large number of the homicides. He said the police department will get “more innovative.”
“We understand there’s only so much we can do,” Norman said. “There’s rules of engagement so to speak. There’s a responsibility that we have to be called to the scene. We have to be aware that there is a crime going on. Unfortunately, so many of these situation go from 0-100 real quick.”
“You have parking troubles,” Norman continued, “‘Who’s supposed to be parking there’ and someone goes to retrieve their gun. That is a challenging dynamic for us to be right there.
Homicide isn’t the only crime that’s been plaguing Milwaukee. Reckless driving is another as records show that in each of the past 3 months, officers passed out at least 55 reckless driving citations. Which is more than any other month in the last 5 years, according to TMJ4 News.
Mayor Johnson said the city will continue to find ways to improve its safety. A feature he mentioned was the idea of physical bike lanes that would keep citizens safe while also helping to curb reckless driving.
“The DPW has continued its program for rapid implementation projects like paint and with posts,” Johnson said. “Our vision-zero efforts are underway. We’re working to make sure there are actual protected bike lanes in Milwaukee. How does that contribute to public safety? Well, for one it makes transportation system safer for those alternative users. But also it becomes another mitigating factor to reckless driving because we have a physical barrier that’s there.”
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