Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and key members of the Milwaukee Common Council are weighing in on what they want to see in the city’s next police chief after current Chief Ed Flynn announced he’s retiring next month.
Milwaukee Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton says the police department’s next leader should use more policy suggestions made by the U.S. Justice Department in a draft report last year.
Hamilton mentioned a recommendation to restore the community’s trust of police.
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“We want the residents of Milwaukee to feel safer in their neighborhoods, and one of the steps in order to get that done is building a stronger police-community relationship, and hopefully the new chief will embrace that effort,” Hamilton told WPR.
Barrett agreed that police-community relations are important, but praised Flynn’s service.
“Remarkable progress has been made during Chief Flynn’s decade on the job in modernizing the police department,” Barrett said.
Milwaukee Alderman Robert Donovan listens to a question about the city’s next police chief, at a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Chuck Quirmbach/WPR
Milwaukee Alderman Robert Donovan said the city’s next police chief should take a tougher approach to crime.
Donovan, chairman of the city’s Public Safety Committee, said that even though the number of murders in Milwaukee dropped about 15 percent in 2017, murders in the triple-digits — nearly 120 in 2017 — show that more work needs to be done.
“When did triple-digit murders in a city our size become the new normal?” Donovan asked at a news conference. He continued, “I can tell you whatever may be the case citywide, both homicides and nonfatal shootings are not down in the 2nd Police District that services Milwaukee’s near south side. They are up.”
Donovan also said Flynn didn’t do enough to combat the opioid crisis that may be fueling some of the city’s violent crime.
Donovan urged the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission to consider choosing the next police chief from within the current ranks of the police department.
Barrett said an acting chief would be selected soon, and he hopes to have Flynn’s replacement on the job later this year.
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