Milwaukee Police Department Chief Nannette Hegerty released today the first of a planned monthly message to the community.

Below is the content of the release:

“As members of the Milwaukee Police Department we are committed to providing the best service we possibly can to the residents of the City of Milwaukee. Unfortunately, I do not believe we are meeting that burden at this time.

“I attend countless community meetings, and I hear the concerns of residents of this city regarding the issue of police response times. I have listened as residents have brought their concerns forward and have come to the conclusion that our response times are unacceptable. I have determined that it is time for us to examine the manner in which we respond to calls for police service and to develop improvements as it pertains to the management of our time and resources.

“Earlier this month, I formed a Milwaukee Police Department work group to evaluate police processes and to determine what measures we can take to improve the way we serve Milwaukee. Times have changed in Milwaukee in many ways, including the way the Department provides service. In days past, officers’ assignments could be quickly handled and they could be returned to service in fairly short order. The severity of those assignments has increased dramatically as has the amount of time spent processing arrests and writing reports.

“The work group to examine this issue is composed of people from throughout the Milwaukee Police Department – those with expertise in communications, technology, force deployment and other critical areas. I do not know what recommendations will be proposed as a result of this work group. It is not a given that Police Officers will not respond to certain types of calls. But everything is on the table. Everything.

“We all want the same thing in this community – both Police Officers and residents – and that is to have safer neighborhoods. If there is something in our internal procedures that is not working, then we owe it to our community to remedy it.

“The men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department are working hard. They are answering calls for police service as quickly as they can right now with the tools they have at their disposal. I am troubled to think that residents of the City of Milwaukee may be getting the message that we are going to provide less service to them. We have identified a problem and we are trying to address it.

“I encourage the residents to keep speaking up at their community meetings. I have heard you and now I am trying to affect a solution. I will look seriously at the recommendations from this work group and I assure the residents of the City of Milwaukee that we will continue to work to provide them with the police service they deserve.”

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