Thanking Those in Blue: A Look Back at the Police Department’s 2009 … and Some Crime Stats

In my first year as alderman, it’s been a pleasure learning more about the South Milwaukee Police Department and the great work it does in our community — all with one of the smallest forces per capita in the area.

The department’s annual report reinforces this reality … and shows a mixed bag of crime statistics.

More on the stats in a second. But first let’s celebrate some of the 2009 successes from the department, including the launch of its new website, email alert service and crime-free multi-housing program. The department also began a check diversion program in cooperation with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office and a medicine collection program in cooperation with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Of course, there were big wins fighting crime, too. The biggest: the arrest of two people for committing five armed robberies in a two-and-half-week period. Thanks to some great police work and help from local citizens, both subjects have been charged federally and are serving time in federal prison.

Said Chief Ann Wellens in the report: “I feel very proud of the effort department members put forth.” I couldn’t agree more.

Now on to the crime stats. From the report:

• Overall criminal offenses increased 5.6% percent from 2008 (500) to 2009 (528). While that sounds high, keep this in mind: 630 crimes occurred in South Milwaukee in 2006 and 569 in 2007.
• The number of violent crime incidents in South Milwaukee increased from 22 in 2008 to 27 in 2009, including seven more robberies over that span.
• Property crimes also increased, 4.8% from 478 in 2008 to 501 in 2009. That includes 24 more burglaries in 2009, to 96, but decreases in theft and motor vehicle theft.
• The clearance rate was 17.8% in 2009, down from 24.1% in 2008 and 18.1% in 2007, but higher from the 13% in 2006 and 15% in 2006.
• Of the 1,093 arrests in 2009, 759 were adults and 334 were juveniles. Of detentions, 321 were men and 74 were women.
• In the 96 burglaries of 2009, the average amount taken was $2,187, up significantly from 2008. Most break-ins — 58 of the 96 — occurred during the daytime hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Of the 383 reported thefts, 125 were from motor vehicles, with an average dollar loss of $436.
• The city responded to 386 animal-related calls and complaints in 2009, up slightly from 2008. The 553 noise complaints were down slightly from 2008.
• There were 955 disorderly conduct incidents reported in 2009, a decrease of 10.4% from 2008.

There was also some interesting traffic enforcement data in the report, as the department continued its directed traffic enforcement program in 2009. Each week, locations were highlighted for enforcement based on accident statistics, citizen complaints, requests from the traffic commission and high traffic areas, according to the report. Radar and laser speed measuring devices helped with these efforts.

Among the statistics:

• The total number of traffic citations and warnings issued in 2009 was 3,019, or 1,089 more traffic citations than 2008. The significant increase was due to a large increase in OWI arrests (a real success of its own).
• There were 497 written warnings and 115 mandatory seatbelt citations issued in 2009.
• There were 3,686 parking citations issued in 2009.

In all, there were 24,224 calls for service in 2009, up 18.5% percent from 2008.

I know this is a lot of numbers, but I think they tell a story — a story about the difficult job facing the group of dedicated officers and supervisors focused on keeping South Milwaukee the safe community it is.

I thank them and appreciate their service.

(I’ll post a link to the annual report as soon as I can. Hard copies are available.)