Monday, March 24, 2008

Crime Takes No Holiday in Milwaukee

Yesterday, FOX 6 offered some positive news, "Early Reports Say Crime Is Down In Milwaukee."
It's down across Milwaukee, so says preliminary city reports. Is this early trend a result of good policing or just good fortune?

Reporter Jeremy Ross said that total crime in all police districts trends lower.

Homicides are down 40 percent.

According to Ross: "The Milwaukee police caution that the city's numbers are preliminary and could be different when they present their crime numbers a few weeks from now."

The numbers used in the FOX 6 report come from
Compass.

I wouldn't think that the police numbers should be too different. If they are, then Compass presents an inaccurate picture. In that case, it isn't a very helpful tool at all for citizens to monitor crime in their neighborhoods.

The MPD has this disclaimer on the site:
The Milwaukee Police Department does not guarantee (either express or implied) the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the Crime Data. The Milwaukee Police Department shall have no liability for any error or omission, or for the use of, or the results obtained from the use of the Crime Data.

In other words, don't waste your time with Compass.

Ross notes in his report that while crime numbers, the ones found on Compass, are down, that provides little comfort to the victims of crime in Milwaukee.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The 19-year-old man shot in the stomach outside a Walgreen's store on N. Teutonia Ave. Sunday night told police a stranger opened fire on him for no apparent reason, police spokesman Bobby Lindsey reported this morning.

The victim, wounded in the 7100 block of N. Teutonia around 9:40 p.m., is expected to survive after surgery last night.

While thousands spent the Easter holiday with church services and family, the shooting suspect and a number of robbers kept themselves busy with less charitable activities.

A 42-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint around 9:20 a.m. Sunday in the 2900 block of N. 7th St. The suspect took money from the victim's pockets after approaching him from an alley, according to the police report.

In the 5700 block of W. Silver Spring Dr., a 16-year-old man was shot at by a suspect he identified as the same guy who robbed him earlier in the month.

According to Lindsey, the victim and his brother spotted the suspect rushing toward them at a bus stop. They fled to a nearby McDonald's and were accosted again outside the building, near the drive-thru window. The suspect fired five or six shots but missed the victims.

Later Sunday night, a film student at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee was robbed while attempting to photograph a mural behind a building in the 900 block of E. Center St.

Two men, both about 18 or 19, punched the victim, tackled him into a snow bank and stole his camera, according to Lindsey.

Happy Easter!

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