MILWAUKEE — A new study of Milwaukee crashes and traffic patterns has revealed an alarming trend of hit-and-runs in the city including double the number of hit-and-runs from a decade ago and nearly a third of all crashes resulting in an involved party fleeing the scene.
As reported first by our news partners at TMJ4, who studied results of the Milwaukee Crash Analysis, 32% of crashes in Milwaukee result in a hit-and-run. The rate for Madison, Green Bay and the state as a whole is half that at 16%, per TMJ4.
The severity of the situation increases even further when considering that only 26.5% — a bit more than a quarter of all hit-and-run cases — between 2019 and 2022 were eventually solved.
An average annual estimate of 6,000 hit-and-runs are reported in Milwaukee each year. Following the estimates reported in this analysis, that would leave an annual average of 4,410 hit-and-run cases unsolved each year.
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This fundamental issue isn’t one that’s easy to solve, either. Police are often reliant on tips from people residing in or passing through the area where these hit-and-runs took place for each individual case.
While cell phone cameras, electronic video doorbells and dashcams can all be effective in helping investigators gather leads and spread information about suspects, they oftentimes do not provide enough new evidence or leads to truly advance criminal investigations.
Milwaukee leaders have taken measures to try limiting the dangers that drivers and pedestrians face on city streets, like recent proposals that promote pedestrian safety on Brady Street. However, there is no clear solution in sight at this time. Drive safe, Milwaukee.
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