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Wisconsin Department of Justice Says Milwaukee Arrests Down, Violent Crime Up

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The number of arrests for violent crime is down in Milwaukee while the city is seeing a surge in activity

Car thefts have been all over the Milwaukee news lately, and with good reason. Data point to an 11 percent increase last year, and numbers continuing to grow in 2016. The jump is one reason why the city’s Public Safety Committee has scheduled a half-dozen special meetings.

 Members are also concerned about homicides. They are tracking below 2015, but it was a violent year. The Wisconsin Department of Justice was the latest on Monday to testify on why the state’s largest city is seeing a surge in certain crimes.

Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan is chair of the Public Safety Committee and scheduled meetings to try to get to the bottom of crime problems here.

“It’s a very target rich environment, the city of Milwaukee when it comes to criminal behavior,” Donovan says.

Donovan says, to him, there’s a clear correlation between crime and arrests.  

“I continue to get complaint after complaint after complaint from constituents, and I’m sure I speak for many of my colleagues. Crime has gone through the roof, arrests are down,” Donovan says.

Donovan says for one, drug arrests are way down.

Constance Kostelac says there could be a number of reasons why violence crime and auto thefts began an upward trend in Milwaukee in 2011. Kostelac is a representative of the state Department of Justice.

“There’s been a variety of (policy) changes but I’m not sure those were necessarily at the state level. But I think there’s been different enforcement efforts and different things going on, but also we see different patterns in terms of drug crimes and in terms of other things that were going on within the city that may be related as well,” Kostelac says.

Kostelac wasn’t any more specific about which enforcement efforts may have changed in Milwaukee. In 2010, the MPD told officers that to chase a vehicle, they must have probable cause that the people inside committed a violent crime. Kostelac says as far as the DOJ is concerned, it needs more information before it could determine why Milwaukee is experiencing a surge in certain crimes, such as people stealing cars.

“Understanding what the nature of these offenses are, where these offenses are occurring, what types of vehicles, are we seeing changes in terms of whether these involve any kind of force? It should be a robbery if there is force involved. Understanding the characteristics in term of the way that the vehicles are actually being stolen, what’s happening with them afterwards, are they being used in other criminal offenses? That type of information would help build a more complete picture of what’s going on,” Kostelac says.

Kostelac says, when it comes to violent crime, Milwaukee County accounts for about 50 percent of what’s seen across the state, so it’s all hands on deck.

“When I said earlier that it’s in all of our interests for the community and the state as a whole to address the violence issues, that’s certainly part of what we’re seeing as the high proportion of violence in Milwaukee is affecting the state as a whole as well,” Kostelac says.

Earlier this month, a GOP legislator voiced concerns that crime from Milwaukee was spilling into the suburbs after a car theft ended in a chase in her district. Kostelac says the Justice Department is analyzing the data in surrounding communities too, but it would be difficult to pinpoint any one reason for increases, including crime in Milwaukee. Next up to testify before the Public Safety Committee will be Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke on Friday.

LaToya was a reporter with WUWM from 2006 to 2021.
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