Solving the Doyle/Crime Problem

Milwaukee needs a mayor that can reduce crime in the city.

Instead, Milwaukee has the exceptionally ineffective Tom Barrett.

Milwaukee County needs a competent District Attorney.

Instead, it's suffered for ages with E. Michael McCann.

The Attorney General, Peg Lautenschlager has been a miserable failure when it comes to addressing crime.

And Governor Jim Doyle, the state's chief executive, only became concerned about crime in Milwaukee when a bloody Memorial Day weekend received attention from the national media, certainly an embarrassment for Doyle.

Tom Barrett, E. Michael McCann, Peg Lautenschlager, and Jim Doyle have been a recipe for disaster in Milwaukee.

Enter former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani--

Giuliani was in Milwaukee today, to talk about crime and show support for gubernatorial candidate Mark Green.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

With former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at his side, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green pledged Wednesday to lead an all-out effort to end the "culture of crime in Milwaukee."

Speaking at a news conference at Sherman Park, where he was backed by a group of law enforcement officials, Green said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle had "turned a blind eye" to crime in the city and said he'd make reducing crime in Milwaukee the "hallmark" of his administration.

Green said this would mean state money for more police officers, but he did not say how much or where it would come from. Nor did he lay out an approach to tackling crime, though Giuliani touted the "broken windows" approach that worked in New York City.

Does Doyle give such specifics when he speaks on an issue?

Does Doyle lay out exactly where he intends to get money for programs that he suggests?

No.

However, in Doyle's case, I suppose it's not necessary because Wisconsinites can assume he would simply raise taxes.

In response, aides to Doyle said that Green's earlier plans on the state budget would mean cities and towns would have to make "deep cuts" in services such as police and fire protection.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he'd welcome additional state money for police but disagreed with Green's assessment of Doyle.

Barrett noted that in June, Doyle approved giving the city $500,000 to hire additional youths through a summer jobs program and $200,000 for additional police patrols. Doyle asked the Legislature for $1 million to go to additional police overtime, though lawmakers scaled that back to $750,000.

It's true that Doyle handed over some money to Milwaukee a couple of months ago.

But why did it take a tsunami of violence for Doyle to act?

If Doyle cared about crime in Milwaukee, he would have made it a priority before the city was in the national spotlight for its lawlessness. He didn't.

Given that this is an election year, it's not surprising that Doyle responded to the violence by tossing some money Milwaukee's way.

That, of course, didn't happen until Doyle was shamed into taking some action by his gubernatorial opponents, as well as candidates for other offices.

Ignoring Milwaukee's crime problem has become second nature to Doyle. It took a dramatic sequence of events to stir him to do something, anything.

If there had been violence in casinos, you can bet that Doyle would have sent in the National Guard.

Green and Giuliani told reporters the key to tackling the issue is to demonstrate it is a top priority. "If you refuse to tolerate lawlessness, you can and will see results. So we'll start there," said Green, a member of the U.S. House from Green Bay.

When asked by reporters if he'd commit to more police officers for the city, where there are 200-plus vacancies on the force, Green said: "I'll make sure we have enough cops and they have enough resources. Whatever the number is, we'll do."

He added: "We'll find the money to get it done."

Asked what he would consider a benchmark for success, Green said: "A reduction in the crime rate. A reduction in the violence rate. Success is having people in this area feel (safe)."

That's the difference between Green and Doyle, and Giuliani and Barrett for that matter.

Tackling the crime problem is not a priority for Doyle and Barrett. They tolerate the lawlessness that plagues certain areas of Milwaukee.

Obviously, what Doyle and Barrett have done has been ineffective, yet they intend to cling to their failed policies.

Giuliani refused to tolerate the crime in New York and things changed dramatically.

Wednesday, Green pledged that as governor he wouldn't tolerate crime in Milwaukee the way Doyle has.

The news conference was held at Sherman Park, an anchor in a west side neighborhood that Green's campaign said had in the last month seen five shootings, four aggravated assaults, 21 burglaries, 29 thefts and 40 stolen cars.

Since Jan. 1, there have been five homicides in the area.

A news release described the crimes as part of "a dizzying display of lawlessness" that has "swept across the city."

What's the problem?

Is that language too dramatic?

Are those crime figures not an indication of excessive lawlessness?

Are "five shootings, four aggravated assaults, 21 burglaries, 29 thefts and 40 stolen cars" no big deal? Business as usual?

...Doyle campaign communications director Anson Kaye said "no one's been tougher on hardened criminals in Wisconsin than Gov. Jim Doyle." He cited efforts to track down unregistered sex offenders and to protect shared revenue, so cities such as Milwaukee could maintain police protection.

"Congressman Green's plan for fighting crime looks like it was written by the Keystone Cops," said Kaye.

Lame, Kaye.

...Giuliani said Wednesday that success in New York came when more officers were added, when daily crime reports were used to hold everyone accountable and when officers stressed minor "broken windows" violations that lead to a larger sense of disorder.

"That's what leadership is all about," Giuliani said. "A mayor, a county executive, they need help. They need help from the governor."

Giuliani should know.

He turned New York City around by utilizing the "Broken Windows" theory.

He describes it:

I very much subscribe to the "Broken Windows" theory, a theory that was developed by Professors Wilson and Kelling, 25 years ago maybe. The idea of it is that you had to pay attention to small things, otherwise they would get out of control and become much worse. And that, in fact, in a lot of our approach to crime, quality of life, social programs, we were allowing small things to get worse rather than dealing with them at the earliest possible stage. That approach had been tried in other cities, but all small cities, and there was a big debate about whether it could work in a city as large as New York. One of the ways that New York used to resist any kind of change was to say, "It can't work here," because they wanted to keep the status quo. There is such a desire for people to do that, to keep the status quo. And I thought, "Well, there's no reason why it can't work in New York City. We have bigger resources. We may have bigger problems, we have bigger resources, the same theory should work." So we started paying attention to the things that were being ignored. Aggressive panhandling, the squeegee operators that would come up to your car and wash the window of your car whether you wanted it or not -- and sometimes smashed people's cars or tires or windows -- the street-level drug-dealing; the prostitution; the graffiti, all these things that were deteriorating the city. So we said, "We're going to pay attention to that," and it worked. It worked because we not only got a big reduction in that, and an improvement in the quality of life, but massive reductions in homicide, and New York City turned from the crime capital of America to the safest large city in the country for five, six years in a row.

If the "Broken Windows" theory can work in a hellhole like NYC, it can work in Milwaukee.

Taking a tough approach on the small stuff transformed NYC and it can transform Milwaukee.

It's time to change course. Doyle is not about safe cities.

It's time to dump Doyle and his failed policies. He's not getting the job done.

Following Giuliani's strategy, Green can make a difference.

Wisconsin needs a governor who will make safe cities a priority.


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The Republican AG candidates both agreed with Mark Green and Rudy Giuliani.

Paul Bucher released a statement endorsing the Green/Giuliani approach to fighting crime.

JB Van Hollen also issued a statement that applauded Green for his "get tough" plan to attack crime.