Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson is joining legislative Republicans in calling on the city’s public school district to put police officers back in high schools.
Milwaukee Public Schools began removing police officers, known as school resource officers or SROs, in 2016. It ended its last contract with the Milwaukee Police Department in June 2020.
But that decision became controversial, and state lawmakers in a bipartisan law to overhaul local government funding required that the school district once again contract for school resource officers. That deal unlocked more than $200 million in shared revenue from the state.
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Johnson has been an advocate of putting officers back in schools since he was an alder for the city. He renewed his calls for police presence as three teens are facing felony aggravated assault charges for allegedly attacking three adults.
“I am appalled by the actions of the young people involved in (Thursday’s) assaults in the Bradley Tech neighborhood,” Johnson said in a statement. “It is also well past time for the restoration of police officers at schools. I ask MPS to address this with urgency.”
According to police, the alleged attack took place at 4 p.m. Sept. 11 about three blocks from Bradley Tech High School, just south of downtown.
District spokesperson Nicole Armendariz said the district is aware of the incident, but pointed out it did not happen at a district school or on school property.
“The district also became aware of threatening messages shared online about one of our schools,” Armendariz said. “Out of an abundance of caution, law enforcement was contacted. The safety of students and staff is the No. 1 priority of the district.”
During a July appearance at the Milwaukee Press Club, Milwaukee Public Schools board vice president Jilly Gokalgandhi was asked if the district planned on complying with the terms of the shared revenue law.
“We’re going to continue to work on restorative justice as the main lever serving our kids. I’ve said that,” Gokalgandhi said. “I’ve gone on record of saying that over and over again, and so that is what I will focus on.”
She added that she isn’t worried about the Legislature attempting to claw back shared revenue funds from Milwaukee because of MPS ignoring the police mandate.
Her comments prompted state Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown, to contact MPS. In an Aug. 22 letter written to School Board President Marva Herndon, Jagler asked why the district hadn’t put school resource officers in place by Jan. 1.
A week later, interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan updated the school board, telling them the district has been working with the Milwaukee city attorney to draft a memorandum of understanding between the school district and the Milwaukee Police Department to establish a framework for how the entities would collaborate moving forward.
Financial details would be negotiated separately.
The district’s 2024-25 budget does not include funding for school resource officers.
In an interview, Jagler told WPR incidents like what happened outside of Bradley Tech are going to continue.
“Would officers in schools have prevented it? I don’t know. We’ll never know, but the fact is, it couldn’t have hurt,” Jagler said.
Jagler, chair of the Senate Education Committee, noted that the city of Milwaukee has already spent its shared revenue dollars. But he says it will be difficult to convince his colleagues in Madison to support Milwaukee Public Schools.
“The fact is, the law that was passed didn’t have any teeth in it, because we assumed MPS and the city of Milwaukee would follow the law,” Jagler said. “But the fact is, as chair of the education committee, how can I say MPS needs this or that, when they’re not even following the law? I don’t know how this doesn’t sour any negotiations going forward.”
Opinions vary on the presence of armed officers in schools.
In 2022, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association surveyed 1,119 adults and found two-thirds believed police officers increase safety in schools.
But a 2018 report from Leaders Igniting Transformation, or LIT, and the Center for Popular Democracy found police presence in Milwaukee schools disproportionately impacted Black and Brown students and students with disabilities.
The report found Black students make up about half of the district’s population, but 84 percent of police referrals were for Black students.
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