Crisis? What Crisis?

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett disagrees with Police Chief Nan Hegerty who says that the city is in a "societal crisis."

According to Barrett, the city isn't in crisis. It just has huge challenges.

I don't think a pollyanna mayor is what Milwaukee needs right now.

Washington -- After a pair of high-profile crimes shook Milwaukee this week, Mayor Tom Barrett disagreed Thursday with Police Chief Nannette Hegerty, who a day earlier said, "I think we have a societal crisis."

Barrett said the city is not in crisis but faces "huge challenges."

For Barrett to say that the city is not in crisis is like Bill Clinton saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

--NINETEEN people sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl

--A Special Olympian robbed and murdered

--A thirteen-year-old girl shot and killed because a bullet meant for her neighbor hit her

All of that within the span of one week!

THAT'S A CITY IN CRISIS.

It's like Barrett is in denial. Doesn't the first step in solving a problem have to be recognizing that the problem exists?

"I would not call it a crisis because we're going to deal with it," the mayor said during a two-day visit [to Washington].

"I think we have some huge challenges in getting people trained for jobs, staying in school and realizing that regardless of what the dispute is, you don't resort to violence," he said.

After the bloody Memorial Day weekend, didn't Barrett say that "we're going to deal with it"?

What's he waiting for?

When will he take steps to really "deal with it"?

When will he be a leader?

Asked how crime ranked among his priorities, Barrett said creating jobs and combating crime were his two most pressing issues.

He said cities such as Milwaukee could use more help from the federal government, which no longer funds the Clinton administration's COPS program, which sent more police officers into the streets. That money had paid a portion of the salaries for about 60 officers, Barrett said.

"There's so much spent on homeland security, and there are lot of legitimate issues there, but I would love to see Congress pay some attention to hometown security," he said.

Earlier this week, Police Chief Nan Hegerty passed the buck by blaming Milwaukee's crime epidemic on some vague notion of a "societal crisis." She declared that "crisis" to be bigger than law enforcement -- not exactly reassuring to hear from the police chief.

Now, Milwaukee's mayor is using the "Blame Bush" strategy.

If only Bill Clinton could have been president for life, Milwaukee would be a Norman Rockwell scene now rather than the scene of murder and depravity.

Right.

Like Hegerty, Barrett isn't looking for a solution. He's looking for an excuse.

This is ironic.

Barrett was in Washington to attend "Milwaukee Night." It's an event on Capitol Hill, co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, to promote Milwaukee.

Can you believe that?


I call that a case of incredibly bad timing. It's got to be tough promoting a city when news is breaking that an 11-year-old girl was assaulted by a mob there.

Sure, some areas of the city are prospering, but others are IN CRISIS.

Yes, CRISIS. MILWAUKEE IS IN CRISIS.

Read this article from AP.

It began with a crush, police said, and turned into one of the most shocking crimes in Milwaukee's long, violent summer: an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by as many as 20 boys while a 16-year-old girl she was romantically interested in watched and coached her.

The 16-year-old and a 15-year-old boy have been charged in juvenile court in the alleged attack, which authorities said took place Monday in a house on the city's north side. The teenage girl's 40-year-old uncle might also be charged, authorities said.

...The 11-year-old girl told police she was interested in the teenage girl, who looked and dressed like a boy, authorities said in court records. She and two friends went to the teen's house, where the child performed oral sex on three teenage boys, the court records said.

The teenage girl's 40-year-old uncle admitted he also had sex with the 11-year-old and told police that his niece was coaching the child, the records said.

The 11-year-old told police she then went to the basement, where there were about 15 males and "began to choose who she wanted to perform oral sex on," the records said.

The teenage girl told police that the 11-year-old had told her she wanted to perform oral sex on the boys in the house, according to court records. The 16-year-old denied encouraging her.

The teenage girl and the 15-year-old boy were charged with being a party to sexual assault. Torbenson said he will probably seek to have them tried as adults.

The reported attack punctuated Milwaukee's felonious summer, which started with a Memorial Day weekend in which 28 people were shot. Though homicide numbers are lower than 2005, assaults are up by 22 percent and robberies by 36 percent, Police Chief Nan Hegerty told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett described the alleged crimes as disgusting and deeply troubling.

Does Barrett find the crimes troubling enough to get tough, to finally take drastic measures?

How many "last straws" will it take?

It's not enough for Barrett to hold another news conference to announce that he's "outraged."

He has to address the crisis. Of course, first he has to admit that there is one.