Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
In the aftermath of Milwaukee’s deadliest month in 25 years, Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the city will double down by hiring more police officers and giving the police more funds.
On its face, this would appear to be a prudent course of action.
But, in light of the recent community unrest precipitated by the police-involved shooting of Sylville Smith, maybe it’s time to try a different approach to arresting Milwaukee’s criminal justice conundrum. We, as a society, are prone to seeking a quick solution to any problem that confront us in this country.
Case in point, we continue to labor under the false allusion that public safety today is contingent on more people carrying concealed carry.
But truth be told, more guns in our midst does little to enhance public safety and definitely does nothing make us any safer.
The Common Council’s new public safety plan is basically more of the same, tired prescription: dramatic increases in law enforcement personnel, more time behind bars for the offenders and so-called boot camps for at-risk youths.
Mayor Barrett has publicly acknowledged that improving public safety goes beyond the police department and indicated that the city’s Office of Violence Prevention is expected to launch a new initiative within the next month.
But, it remains to be seen what this new plan will actually entail. Just last week, Governor Scott Walker came to Milwaukee and took great pride in delivering (what he probably considered a whopping) $4.5 million in state assistance.
This begs the question: Why did it take Governor Walker (the country’s former chief executive) so long to respond to Milwaukee’s plight and why was the amount of state aid so paltry?
Let’s not kid ourselves, the routine of simply putting forth one-dimensional, knee-jerk responses will do little to cure the myriad of serious, complicated problems confronting Milwaukee.
Moreover, this new perception of a surging police force clearly sends the wrong message to communities of color and does nothing to address the root causes of poverty, crime and distrust in the city.
It’s time to fashion a new reaction paradigm (that’s multi-faceted and adequately funded) and start thinking outside the box.