Dear Mayor, County Executive, Governor, Chief of Police and others,

Mayor, awhile back I remember you asking what are the answer to the rising violence in Milwaukee. Sadly I do not have the answers but since my years at Marquette University High School I have been fascinated with study of criminology and know where to look.

First, what not to do. Calling people who commit crimes names like thugs or sick does not help. Ignoring the facts of racism and poverty in Milwaukee does not help. As I am sure you know Milwaukee is the most racially segregated city in the USA and the second poorest according to U.S. Census information. The two areas of Milwaukee, North Central (85% plus African American) and South Central (85% Hispanic) are poorest and most violent areas in City of Milwaukee.

Second, learn from history of what works and does not work. When Richard Nixon first went into Presidential Office he asked his advisers of what was the easiest way to reduce crime. They suggested treatment rather than punishment for drug addicts and alcoholics. He did it and it worked but after second election was forgotten in heat of Watergate.

When Governor Thompson, the great builder of prisons in Wisconsin, created a task force to study how to lessen prisons and prisoners they responded:Prisoners and Prisons “are bound to grow as long as the root cause of crime—poverty, lack of education and lack of family support—go unaddressed.” Often we know the answers but just do not want to face them as they are too inconvenient.

Third, treat all illnesses equally. If a person with a weak heart has a heart attack 911 is called and the person is automatically taken to the hospital. If a person with a brain illness, mental illness, has a breakdown 911 might be called but the person is taken to jail or mental health complex, not a medical facility like a hospital. Under a former County Executive, in an effort to save money,the mental health complex lost federal certification and funds because the county would not maintain it as a medical facility; we have being paying ever since for this mistake. People with mental illnesses are less likely to commit crimes than ‘normal’ population but they are more likely to be victims of crime than the rest of population. The stigma of brain illnesses hangs heavy over our society, especially with poor and minorities.

Fourth, and last for now, listen to poor, marginalized and rejected. Please do not take the attitude of arrogance that you know what is best for poor and marginalized. Agencies, private or public that take that attitude are making the situation worst. For example, Marquette University security officers became authorized policeman and Marquette got a million dollars to ‘improve’ the neighborhood north and west of it by hiring its own District Attorney to prosecute persons. Armed police officers in the neighborhood looking to arrest and prosecute people of color are a disaster waiting to happen. It is like there is a wall around North Avenue to Silver Spring between 60th and the river and one on near Southside where poor. Marginalized persons are being forced to live in neighborhoods with abandoned homes, lack of home ownership, poor public education system, high unemployment and a high rate of incarceration of young adult African American males. I grew up in Milwaukee and lived most of my 72 years here and do not remember Milwaukee ever being this segregated and poor and fearful. Perhaps we cannot change persons but we can create an “environment which it is easier to be good.”

If you have read this far, thank you; if you ignore this letter all I can say I respect you and will never ignore you.

May the graces and blessings that God sheds on the poor and marginalized be with you,

Bob Graf

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