When People Care

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board states the obvious in "When People Care."

The Board comments on how residents reacted to Tuesday's shoot out between two police officers and a man from out of state.

Witnesses came forward and cooperated with police. It's a good thing when people care.

Residents in the near west side neighborhood where two Milwaukee police officers exchanged gunfire Tuesday with a man they shot and killed told a reporter that gang activity and shootings are nothing out of the ordinary.

Some people, probably those who live far from the scene, may very well shrug their shoulders and sum the event up in two words: Mean streets.

When I hear "mean streets," I think of the movie.

I would sum up the event in one word: Crisis.

I live far from the scene, but I don't shrug my shoulders. Each shooting is one more nail in Milwaukee's coffin.

As tempting as it may be to resort to that popular phrase, it leaves the false impression that the people who live, work and play on those streets don't care. Worse, that they all subscribe to the so-called "stop snitching" rule and aren't willing to help police who risk their lives daily, as these two officers were doing, to secure those streets.

Unfortunately, too many do subscribe to the "stop snitching" rule. Too many don't trust the police. Too many won't cooperate.

The unsolved murder of 4-year-old Jasmine Owens is a case in point.

But as the response to this shooting on Tuesday shows, there are people who won't give in to the thugs. They want order. They want to be safe. They know that the police are on their side.

But when police canvassed the area they found "independent witnesses" whose version of the events was similar to the account of the two gang-unit officers, said Police Chief Edward Flynn. When the officers asked the man, who was walking down the middle of the street with his hands in his pockets, to take his hands out of his pockets and show some identification, he pulled out a revolver and began firing, after ignoring orders to drop the weapon, Flynn said.

The fact that this case of cooperation between "independent witnesses" and police stands out, the fact that it is being touted as such a big deal speaks to the routine lack of citizen involvement in some of Milwaukee's neighborhoods. It should be the rule rather than the exception.

I would hope that this success story encourages other "independent witnesses" to come forward and work with the police to improve their quality of life by making their streets a little less mean.

It really is quite simple.