What's a police chief to do when she thinks she's doing a great job and the public has a different opinion?
Hold a news conference .
That's what Milwaukee Police Chief Nan Hegerty did yesterday.
The bottom line: She told citizens they are wrong to think crime in Milwaukee is out of control. She predicts that violent crime rates will drop in 2007.
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee Police Chief Nannette Hegerty on Thursday predicted a reduction in violent crime this year compared with 2006, when it was up 29% over 2005.
Hegerty said her department will soon unveil more details about a plan to saturate some of the city's most violent neighborhoods this summer with officers. In the meantime, she is working to get the word out on initiatives that have already increased arrests and taken more guns off the streets.
She spoke at a news conference meant to close what she said is a disconnect between the public perception and the work her officers are doing daily. Her presentation came a week after aldermen at a committee meeting suggested the public needed more information on crime-fighting strategies, and one alderman presented his own plan for controlling crime.
"The Milwaukee Police Department is in fact doing the work that the public wants us to do," Hegerty said. "This talk of plans or lack of plans is confusing to the public. The Milwaukee Police Department has a plan. The plan has been shared with the Common Council. The plan has been shared with the members of the Police Department and it is a plan that is working."
Hegerty has every right to defend her record. She should commend the police officers for their successes and there have been successes worth mentioning.
But--
It's ridiculous for Hegerty to suggest that the real problem is the public's misperception of crime in the city, that people don't have an accurate picture of the situation.
City residents see what's happening in their neighborhoods.
Previously safe areas are no longer safe.
Citizens of the city are directed to this web page, Compass, to track crime where they live.
Little dots mark the crimes. It's not pretty at all.
It presents a very troubling picture.
While the MPD is doing the work I think the public wants it do, that doesn't mean that the public is satisfied with the results. The department is stretched too thin and the problem is too huge to manage.
Hegerty is kidding herself.
Ask Milwaukee residents if they would like to see more officers on the streets. Ask if they think more needs to be done to control crime.
I can't imagine anyone saying that the city is a better, safer place today than it was a year ago or the year before that.
...Ald. Tony Zielinski, who represents Bay View, which recently suffered a spree of robberies, said it is important for the public to hear about crime but also to get the information on arrests like Hegerty supplied.
He said, however, that he, too, is uncertain about the possibility of a lower crime rate, considering a high number of felons who could potentially be released into the community when their prison terms are up in 2007.
"Statistically, that doesn't bode well for Milwaukee County because of the recidivism rate" among those released, he said. "That's something that needs to be factored into the equation."
Bay View is still reeling from that robbery spree.
It was something that the people in the area hadn't experienced before.
And Hegerty comes out to say that she thinks there will be a reduction in violent crime this year?
Talk about a disconnect!
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