Barrett, Flynn, and Gangs

Charlie Sykes interviewed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn on his show this morning.

Barrett and Flynn both insisted that they're going after the bad guys. Really.

I know that Flynn is a new chief, but I don't have confidence that things will change.

At this point, I have no reason to believe that Milwaukee's gang problem will be solved.

Barrett has named names before. I've heard him call out the Latin Kings and the Spanish Cobras.

I'm flashing back to last year's Bay View crime spree.

There was that same "get tough" rhetoric. At that time, Barrett used that same favorite phrase of his: "We're coming after you."

"We're coming after you."

Really?

Do you think he means it this time?

Are the words from Barrett and Flynn empty?

I'm not dissing the excellent work of Milwaukee's police officers. I just don't have much hope for real, as opposed to temporary, improvement. I've heard this stuff before. Again and again.

"We're coming after you."

Yeah, right.

I hope and pray that I'm wrong. I hope no one else becomes a victim of these criminals. I hope no one else is robbed or killed because a gang member is back on the streets thanks to the revolving door justice system.

I want to believe that with Flynn in charge things will be different.

I want to but I don't.

What can he accomplish if judges permit these lowlifes to reenter society?

The pain and suffering of innocents, the killings, the terrorized neighborhoods, the fear, the steady deterioration...

It's the death of Milwaukee by a thousand cuts.

Band-aid solutions won't save the city.

"We're coming after you."

I'll believe it when I see it.
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Audio, 620 WTMJ