Milwaukee police will increase patrols in August, says mayor

In reaction to another violent weekend in Milwaukee, Mayor Tom Barrett said Sunday, August 3, 2014 that the city’s police force will have an increased presence on the street during August.
“Last year August was a very bad month for us,” Barrett said after a news conference addressing the Monday repaving of a busy section of Brady St.
There were 33 homicides last year during August and September alone, and a total of 105 for 2013.
The mayor said he met with Police Chief Edward Flynn to discuss the department’s approach to curbing the violence.
“The police chief is planning on having a lot of proactive policing going on during the month,” he said. “We will have a very strong, heavy police presence throughout the city.”
While the homicide total for the first half of 2014 mirrors that of last year — 48 and 47, respectively — shootings are up. In the first half of this year, 261 people were wounded by gunfire in Milwaukee — a 20 percent increase over 2013.
Since July 31, 2014, at least a dozen people have been hit by gunfire, three of them fatally.
Three people were injured in two separate shootings Saturday night in Milwaukee, police said Sunday.
The mayor said that, while increased police presence is important, it’s only one part of the solution.
“I need the community,” Barrett said. “I absolutely need the community.”
Far too many young men are resorting to violence, Barrett said, and there are too many illegal guns on the streets.
Barrett added, “We’re going to have to get to young men, in particular, and make sure they don’t have access to illegal guns and make sure they’re not solving their problems using guns.”