Milwaukee's Crime/Leadership Crisis

For months (years?) now, I've talked about the deterioration of Milwaukee.

A few days ago, Mike Nichols wrote a column in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in reaction to the murder of Scott Huggins.

He speaks of the murder as a nail in the city's coffin.

I agree completely.

He also reflects on another murder that had a tremendous impact on the way he and others viewed the city.

Nichols begins:

Some crimes mark a city indelibly, change the feel and the thought of it and in a way that is lasting.

There is one like that for me, I told a colleague in so many words Friday, and before I could even get it out of my mouth he beat me to it.

"Popeye's," he said.

Yes, Popeye's.

It's 14 years and about a thousand murders ago that Christine Schweiger stopped for chicken in the 2900 block of W. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee.

She was returning to her car when a 16-year-old boy with a shotgun forced her to her knees. Down on the ground with her arms outstretched, insisting she had no money, she was shot in the back of the head as her 10-year-old daughter watched.

Reading that gave me a chill. That was a turning point for me, too.

I didn't realize that 14 years had already passed since then. God knows the city has had plenty of memorably horrific crimes and incidents of unspeakable brutality, but for some reason, the murder of Christine Schweiger has remained very vivid in my mind. The shock of that hasn't dulled with the passing of time.

Maybe it's because that's when I realized that Milwaukee was in serious trouble.

That was 14 years ago.

What's changed since then?

Things have become worse.

No progress. Only a downward spiral.

In his column in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nichols shares some feedback he received from readers of his previous column.

He points out that the city's politicians don't seem too upset about the current state of Milwaukee and what's happened to their city.

Residents and former residents are reacting much differently. Nichols notes that some mourn Milwaukee's downfall while others flat-out fear the place.


Todd Shroeckenthaler calls Nichols out for adding to the problem.

[A] Glendale resident who used to live in Milwaukee and said I could use his name, thought that I (a Cedarburg resident who also used to live in Milwaukee) did nothing but make matters worse.

I usually enjoy your articles, but this one I took offense to. It does nothing but fan the wings of white flight from Milwaukee.

You even went so far as to dig up stories from 14 years ago. Please think about it harder when you publish (an) article that stokes the perception of fear vs. reality. It also reinforces the negative stereotypes held by many throughout the rest of the state that think of our fair city as a pariah.

I think Shroeckenthaler is wrong.

Nichols isn't fanning the wings of white flight.

With all due respect, he doesn't have that sort of clout.

Furthermore, it doesn't do any good to not talk about the problem and pretend that it doesn't exist. That hasn't worked for the past 14 years, has it?

People are leaving the city of Milwaukee because it's not safe to pump gas at a station located on a busy street at 3:00 in the afternoon. It has nothing to do with Nichols.

It's hard for me to think of Milwaukee as a "fair city" anymore.

Shroeckenthaler apparently believes that Milwaukee isn't that bad. It's a fear v. reality thing to him.

He should tell that to the dozens of business owners in Bay View and on the far south side that were the victims of robberies.

He should talk to the people who were simply eating a meal out or grocery shopping when they were ordered to get on the floor during the robberies.

He should ask them about their perception of the city.

And what was the point of Nichols relaying the story of the murder from 14 years ago?

It reveals that Milwaukee has not progressed one iota since then.

There has been no "War on Crime" in Milwaukee since Schweiger's execution. Shouldn't that have been Milwaukee's wake up call?

Huggins' murderer, Antonio Jones, was only two-years-old at the time Schweiger was killed. That little boy didn't grow up to respect life and obey the law.

No, in those 14 years, he grew up to become a murderer along with an entirely new generation of thugs. What will the two-year-olds of today grow up to do?

I think it's horrible that Milwaukee lacks the leadership to save it from drowning in crime.

No leader, no mayor, no police chief has made a dent in solving the problems. Have any really tried?

During the same time that Milwaukee was sinking, Mayor Rudy Giuliani cleaned up New York City.

Today, New York is safer than Milwaukee.

Are Milwaukee residents supposed to believe that leaders are powerless to save their city, that the problem is too big?

They shouldn't.

It can be done, with the right leadership. Obviously, Milwaukee doesn't have it.

Bottom line: Mayor Tom Barrett needs to be replaced.