Milwaukee reports fourth highest increase in homicides among major U.S. cities
Milwaukee Police Department reports 40% increase in homicides in 2022
Milwaukee Police Department reports 40% increase in homicides in 2022
Milwaukee Police Department reports 40% increase in homicides in 2022
A national study from WalletHub reports that Milwaukee is the city with the fourth highest homicide rate increase in the United States.
As of July 27, 2022, data from the Milwaukee Police Department shows that there have been 133 homicides, this represents a forty percent increase from the same time in 2021. If it remains on the current pace, it will shatter the record of 193 in a year, which was set just last year.
The sharpest increase has come in the south side Police District Two, where homicides are up 143% from the same period last year.
"We will be in the streets trying to do what we can do. What we're seeing when we go hit the streets is the sense that, you know, there is no hope. But, by us being out there, we're being an ear and being able to listen," said the Rev. Marty Calderon of God Touch Milwaukee, a ministry working on community outreach on the south side of Milwaukee.
His ministry uses a parking lot at South 15th Street and Lincoln Avenue every other Saturday as a gathering place for the community to express their concerns about crime and, most importantly, get to know one another. Calderon said it’s important for his neighbors "to know that there are people out there trying to make a change."
As bleak as the numbers are, Calderon said there is a silver lining.
"You say what could be positive? It's that we're starting to see more of the officers and more of the district captains that want to get more involved in the community," he said.
God Touch Milwaukee’s Outreach events director Veronica Diaz said, "We want to bring that sense of community back to the south side of Milwaukee.”"
She stressed the importance of neighbors being visible outdoors to help deter crime. Diaz also said it’s important for the community to see that when people commit crimes, there are consequences.
"It's not OK to do these things and the police department can only do so much. Everybody has to take accountability," Diaz said.
Calderon reinforced that by saying, "When there isn't a lot of accountability, then we start to see cracks in everything that happens around us."
Homicides in 2022 have increased in six of the seven police districts from their numbers at the same point last year. The only exception is District Five on the north side, where homicides have dipped from 27 at this time last year, to 26 so far this year.