He has a plan to combat the lawlessness that is plaguing the city and is certain to continue into the summer.
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A Milwaukee alderman today called for state National Guard military police officers to be deployed in the city this summer to help quell "an increase in violence and disorder" that has already begun.
Ald. Bob Donovan, chairman of the Common Council's Public Safety Committee, sent a letter this morning to Mayor Tom Barrett that calls on the mayor to request 50 to 75 military police officers from the state.
The letter also says Barrett should take other steps to get more police officers on the streets, including asking the state to do highway patrols in the city.
This would, presumably, free up Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputies to help patrol city streets.
In the letter, Donovan criticizes Barrett "for your most unflattering penchant for taking credit for other people's hard work. From surveillance cameras to cops in schools and everything in between relating to public safety, both you and I know not one of these ideas has originated from your office."
It sounds like Donovan wants a pat on the back.
I say give pats on the back where pats are due.
Nevertheless, Donovan asks Barrett to support eight other initiatives, including creating 10 positions to speed the background checks of police recruits; adding a fourth police recruit class this year; seeking more state aid to pay for police; and adopting a Chicago program that puts desk-duty officers on the street one day a week.
Donovan also calls for allowing officers from other departments to transfer to the Milwaukee department, without having to go through the full training of new recruits; and for a moratorium on promoting police officers to higher positions. Those promotions leave openings among street-level officers, Donovan says.
Whether or not you agree with Donovan's proposals, you have to admit that he's offering some concrete suggestions.
He's about looking for solutions and taking action -- ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING to address crime in Milwaukee.
Where's Governor Jim Doyle?
What's he doing?
As I said a month ago in a post about crime in Bay View, if a crime wave hit casinos, Doyle would be sending in the National Guard.
So many of Doyle's election promises have been broken. I don't expect him to respond to the crisis, unless Dennis Troha asks him to take care of it.
_____________________________
By the way, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board looks really stupid.
I think a retraction is in order for this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment