MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Following more than a dozen calls for service related to street takeovers across Milwaukee over the Labor Day weekend, the president of the Milwaukee Police Association has expressed an openess to the National Guard coming to the city to curb criminal activity.
Police call logs indicate there were at least 15 calls for service between Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31 related to street takeovers. The incidents were spread out across the city, including one at 6th and Clybourn near the downtown offices of Milwaukee Tool. There were three arrests, six vehicles towed and 26 citations connected to the incidents, according to a Milwaukee Police spokesperson.
“That would clearly be a perfect example of having the National Guard come and help us until we get our staffing numbers right,” MPA president Alexander Ayala told WTMJ’s Wisconsin’s Weekend Morning News September 1. “I think that would be a great help, and I welcome it.”
The police union has been embroiled with the city over a new contract for years. The labor agreement between the union and the City expired in December of 2022. The department currently has 1,568 officers, short of a state mandate requiring 1,725 uniformed officers by 2034 as part of Act 12 which took effect at the start of 2024. The legislation threatens the loss of up to 15% of current state funding levels if the staffing mandate is not met.
Recently the organization has threatened a so-called “blue flu” if a new deal isn’t reached.
“Blue Flu is when police officers call in sick because they cannot strike” said Ayala in July. “So you have a shortage of staffing if people call in sick”.
The last time officers in Milwaukee participated in the “blue flu” was in the 1970s, before the law was set to prevent officers from striking.
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The union has presented the labor negotiator with a September 5 deadline for a new deal. Off-duty officers will protest outside City Hall the same day.
The most recent street takeovers included an incident near Water and Wisconsin downtown, just south of the entertainment district that has seen an uptick in violent activity this past summer. That uptick has led to new initiatives from Milwaukee Police and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department to curb criminal activity, including the reinstatement of mobile booking units and drone surveillance.
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Vice President JD Vance suggested during a visit to La Crosse August 28 it was unlikely the Trump administration would send Guard troops to Milwaukee as has been done in Washington D.C., but that mayors such as Cavalier Johnson should “ask for help” dealing with upticks in crime.
“I hope the mayor of Milwaukee gets some common sense and actually fights for his residents for a change, because we would love to actually help cut down on the crime in this community,” said Vance while speaking at Mid-City Steel in La Crosse about the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed on July 4.
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Ayala’s stance on the National Guard’s possible presence in Milwaukee is not echoed by Mayor Johnson, who shot down the idea while appearing on 101.7 The Truth’s “Truth to Power with Kyle Wallace” August 28.
“We have local law enforcement for a reason…we don’t need the U.S. military to have boots on the ground in American cities. That’s not their mission, that’s not their calling,” said Johnson.
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