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Walker, Barrett agree on new gun legislation but not police OT funding

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett speaks at a news conference Wednesday with Police Chief Ed Flynn about the recent shootings in the city.

Gary Porter


Mandatory minimum sentences for illegal possession possible

Gov. Scott Walker expressed support for new legislation that would create a mandatory minimum sentence for those who illegally possess a firearm but remains noncommittal on state funding for police overtime. »Read Full Article

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  1. I hope most of the overtime is for plain clothes officers to be in high crime areas. Being there in uniform only delays the occurrence of many crimes.
  2. The article earlier today only made it to 11 comments before shut down. Will this article beat that?
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  3. Now get people to start answering the 911 calls as they come in and there might be some progress to be seen.
  4. Typical Democratic response, spend more money and ask for more money from the rest of the state as well. The problem is your city Mr Mayor and why should the rest of the state fund your inability? More police presence will deter but won't stop the crime. Interesting point in the article about the Harley Anniversary coming up and that is also motivating the Mayor to solve this quickly rather than correctly.
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  5. FYI, we closed commenting on our earlier story when we published the new story about city response. We'll leave commenting open on this one. Please keep the discussion respectful of other commenters and readers.
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  6. What I find interesting is that no one calls the districts where these crimes happen failing police districts. Maybe the communities where this crime is taking place should be given vouchers to hire private security firms and save the tax payers money. More police patrolling will not stop crime. The police respond to crime, they do not stop it, unless it is happening in front of them. Jobs decrease crime, but this is Milwaukee and a white person with a criminal record has a better chance at obtaining employment than a black person who does not. This is a fact, see: This is institutionalized racism which is the biggest problem in Milwaukee. Get rid of institutionalized racism and the violence will decrease because more people will be employed. Then we can work on the normalized racism that is constantly on display in these comments.
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    • So it is a racial issue when the victim is black and it is a racial issue when the predator is black. Got it.
    • Don't you ever get tired of using the "R" word? What crap. Your biggest problem in Milwaukee comes from babies having babies having babies. Your population continues to kill one another with black on black crime. Do you really want a "neighborhood watch" system set up? I'm guessing you had your fill of Trayvon vs Zimmerman but perhaps not. I'm only suggesting that racism is NOT the issue, lack of parenting is.

      Milwaukee is not safe, period. I grew up in Milwaukee. I will NOT frequent any of the neighborhoods I used to live in, NOT safe.

      A white person or black person, with an education can get a job. With some work and dedication they can move up the ladder. The field is wide open for anyone to do just that.

      The only racism I see is from folks like you that claim it repeatedly.

      Work is not racism. Getting an education is not racism. Expecting folks to come to work and know something is NOT racism.

      Going through life uneducated and reproducing to survive is very sad.
    • linky228 and K Gritz, this is the USA. At what point has race not been in issue in this country. I didn't invent the race arguement, or the idea of race. Race is the invention of Europeans and determined (and still does determine) ones place in society. Northwestern University did a study in Milwaukee about the hiring practices of employers here, and they found that white people with criminal records have a better chance at obtaining employment than a black person who does not. So your myth of meritocracy is blown away by this study. My black friends with college degrees had to leave the state to find work. No one was hiring them here, but now they are financially successful in other states. I personally do not believe in race, it is a divide and conquer strategy. If you believe that people are different races then you are a racist because that idea stems from the ideology of racism. But, I understand very well the system I live in and I have no fantasies about it. I live in a very safe part of Milwaukee and I go for walks at night without any concerns. Jobs decrease crime. Milwaukee is a racist city that does not want to hire black people. Generations of constant unemployment and the stress that goes along with that tends to wear on people. Institutionalized and normalized racism is the root of the problem. Crime is a symptom of the real issue.
    • Milwaukee is a racist city. Especially when you have obvious racist cops on the street. Case in point, how many white people had a cops finger stuck up their butts. How many white people get pulled over and given tickets for being in the area. How many white people have the cops lied about in court to get them sent to jail. How many white people many white people get a little frighten when a squad make a U-turn. These cops aggressively go after Black people because they are Black, and will disregard a white person who has committed the same infraction. I saw a white woman smoking a huge blunt driving south on Fond du Lac Ave and past a squad. Did they stop her, no. But it's strange how these cops can smell the odor of marijuana coming from a Black persons car from a block away and can pinpoint the car. It's also strange that the cop shop will not except a Black persons job application because of a parking ticket he received over 10 years ago, but will except white people that get a kick out of sticking their finger up another persons butt and label that good law enforcement technique. I'm sorry, but if it walks and quacks like a duck, then that is a duck.
    • Do you have something a little more current than 10 years old and a little less biased then EPI?
  7. Oh boy! More taxpayer money! That'll fix the problem! It always does! Thank you Mayor Barrett for your vision and leadership! Dear Leader!
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  8. Read all the posts. Just as i figured. Conservatives ranting and raving against it. I'd like to see these people move to the violent areas for just 6 months and see how they like it.
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    • @beaver- I'm Conservative and when I moved out of my parent's house, my first stop was 41st and Lisbon. From there, I went to 20th & Rogers and after that, I went to 48th & Medford. I'm back in Glendale and you know what I hear at night? Gunfire from Milwaukee, all year long. The neighbors who lived next door moved out after a slug came through their bedroom window. I'd like the Zip Code to be changed so we don't have to share it with Milwaukee because our insurance is too high, caused by the idiots across the border to MKE and because of the drop in property value. The neighbor across the alley at the last place in MKE was shot when he went to a convenience store and he was a cop. Happy to report that he lived and the robber didn't.

      I have lived in three violent areas- why don't you come to the suburbs and see how nice it is to live without as many problems. The main problem is that the dirtbags come here to commit their crimes because WE TEND TO BE WORKING DURING THE DAY, so they have more unoccupied homes to burgle.
    • @gym123, you lived in three poverty stricken areas, of course there will be more crime. Why didn't you move to the Eastside, Bay View, Story Hill, or one of the better neighborhoods in the city. At least you had the option to move back to the 'burbs where you grew up (at least that is what I assume from you saying you moved back there). What about the people who grew up in the poverty stricken areas you lived in? Do you think their environment affected their attitudes and outlook on life. Some do not have the option to move because they cannot afford to. Sounds like you came from a financially stable family.
    • Serial finger pointer, how about insisting THE LAWS on the books regarding violence, gun or not, BE ENFORCED? What entitlement program bought your vote?
    • There's a price to pay when you as a high school freshman (of any color) decide that school is for suckers. It's easier to do crime to get what you want. You can set your own hours. Pick where you want to "work". Whether you're dealing drugs, robbing people, burglarizing homes or stealing cars you set your own schedule. That being said the more citizens who qualify for a CC permit and actually carry a weapon will begin to level the playing field against the crooks. People choose what they want to be and how they want to live their lives. It's time we put real effort into locking away the folks who haved ecided to go against the rules of polite society. Education=Jobs=Success, it starts with staying in school!
    • We wouldn't be that stupid.
  9. If we had a Chief Harold Brier and the Tactical Squad, there would be no need to write this story.

    Milwaukee reaps what it sows under Mayor Milquetoast.
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  10. Chief Flynn disbanded the Intelligence Division and Gang Squad. He farmed out the Vice Squad. He decimated the Detective Bureau. He stopped search warrants for felony firearm offenders based on the presence of firearms (because "it's only a gun"). He ignores the drug dealers and drug houses for fear of "disturbing the peace on the street". He institutes policies that hinder and hamper citizens reporting of crime and slows police response for the sole purpose of reducing numbers. Well Chief, well Mayor, those policies used to artificially lower crime numbers have finally paid off. The Citizens of Milwaukee are hurting and dying because of those policies. Milwaukee shouldn't be used as an experiment for east coast scholars.
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