Milwaukee's Violent Crime Increase

Nationally, violent crime fell during the first six months of 2007 compared to that same time period in 2006.

Too bad Milwaukee can't share in the good news.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Violent crime in Milwaukee rose 13% in the first six months of 2007, led by a 22% spike in aggravated assaults, according to new FBI statistics.

Preliminary figures indicate that violent crime nationwide dipped 1.8% from January to June of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

The city's figures in those categories showed:

-50 murders in the first half of 2007, compared to 49 in 2006.
-126 forcible rapes, compared to 119.
-1,607 robberies, compared to 1,560.
-2,201 aggravated assaults, compared to 1,795.

The categorized property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft dropped 2.6 percent nationwide in 2007's first six months compared to 2006 data, according to the FBI.

In Milwaukee, property crime overall increased by 2.3%.

...Arson is also a property crime but is not included in the property crime totals, the FBI notes. Arson nationwide decreased by 9.7 percent in the first half of the year, however, Milwaukee saw an 11% increase.

Not good. Not good at all.

Milwaukee's mayor and police chief weighed in on the disturbing statistics.

Mayor Tom Barrett said Tuesday he is keenly aware of the bump in aggravated assaults.

"This is why, in part, we put out our Neighborhood Safety Initiative," he said. "We continued to see them rise during the summer. We put cameras out. We put more police on the street. We have a new police chief now who really believes in community policing and data-driven policing, and I remain hopeful that we'll see a turnaround in these numbers."

I applaud the efforts made to get crime under control, but Milwaukee became a more dangerous place in 2007.

That's the reality. Barrett can't spin that.

I find it stunning that Barrett is running unopposed for a second term. It's mind-boggling.

Why do Milwaukeeans accept the status quo when the status quo absolutely sucks?

...Police Chief Edward Flynn, who took office Monday, said reducing crime, disorder and fear will be the department's primary mission.

Yes. Well. I would hope that's the department's primary mission.

Flynn is taking on a real mess. If he can turn Milwaukee around, he can do anything.