3 aldermen skeptical of city’s violence prevention plan

Every city official wants to lower violence.

But they disagree on how to achieve that, or whose method is best.

So when a draft of the Office of Violence Prevention’s “Blueprint for Peace” went before the Common Council’s Public Safety Committee on Friday, there wasn’t just a discussion of its merits, but who was putting it forward.

The office is located within the city’s Health Department. The mayor appoints the health commissioner and other positions, including the director of the Office of Violence Prevention.

And three aldermen on the committee had not lost track of their own Safety Action Plan released last summer, which focused on enforcement and was heavily criticized by some residents because of that.

“We’ve all been waiting, it’s almost a full year, for whatever the mayor’s plan is,” Ald. Mark Borkowski said.

Reggie Moore, the office’s director, flatly denied the blueprint was the mayor’s plan or a response to the committee’s safety plan.

“This is something that has to live beyond all of us,” Moore said of the blueprint.

The blueprint takes a public health approach, looking at root causes of violence and modeling comprehensive strategies seen in other cities.

It’s organized around six goals: stop the shooting; promote healing and restorative justice; support children, youth and families; promote economic opportunity; foster safe and strong neighborhoods; and strengthen coordination of violence prevention efforts.

The draft, released last week, is the result of meetings with people representing all parts of Milwaukee, including residents, public safety and elected officials, youth organizations, faith leaders, nonprofits, businesses and others.

Ald. Bob Donovan, the committee chairman, pushed for more specifics.

“Sure! Full employment would be a great thing for Milwaukee, that could be my goal four,” he said. “How are we going to get there?”

Moore stressed the plan was still a draft and would include specific recommendations and the cost of implementing them. The plan is scheduled to be finalized this summer. He also said prevention and enforcement are not mutually exclusive; both are needed.

Still, Ald. Terry Witkowski expressed skepticism and wondered how he would explain it to his constituents.

“To say yes, we’re doing something to reduce crime in Milwaukee and here it is, it just doesn’t do it,” he said. “It’s hard to sum this up.”

The blueprint effort has the support of other council members, among them, Ald. Chantia Lewis, Ald. Milele Coggs and Ald. Chevy Johnson, who have advocated for more prevention strategies.

“At the end of the day, releasing a plan is only half the battle,” Moore said. “The real work is in the implementation. We are looking forward to that.”