Some Milwaukee Common Council members say crime is increasing in their neighborhoods, so they want to see more patrol officers there. Several south side aldermen sent a letter to Police Chief Edward Flynn on Thursday calling for an increased police presence in their districts. But, at least one council member took offense to the request.
Tony Zielinski represents the Bay View neighborhood and signed the letter, asking the MPD to assign more patrol officers to the district. Zielinski says he hears from constituents nearly every day, about increases in thefts and vandalism; even assaults. He thinks a greater police presence would help deter criminal activity.
“We don’t want to wait until we start having mass murders and mass robberies and things like that going on. I had a lady that was assaulted the other day, she got sucker punched by someone and the police are trying to track them down,” Zielinski says.
Zielinski says the police department could pull some officers off desk duty and place them on the south side.
One alderman the letter alarmed is Council President Ashanti Hamilton. He didn’t return our call, but according to a statement his office sent, the call to reassign patrol officers among districts, is divisive. Hamilton says Council members must represent the public safety concerns of the city, as a whole.
