The Milwaukee Police Department has had two open houses at various locations over the past several days. The first was at the Safety Academy where police and fire personnel train for their profession. The second one was at District Two at 3rd and Lincoln Avenue which I attended. This was my first open house, and I was pleasantly impressed by the large, attendant crowds. There was a sign-up table at the front of the district where you received a ticket was a raffle and a second ticket for food. Yes, can you believe it is free food. Once you received your ticket everyone lined up at the front door for a tour of the station. Many of the families who came also had their children with them. Once in the lobby there was an officer giving a general history of the station. Then we next went inside the roll call room to see where officers start their shift every day.
The sergeant advised that officers check in here before their shift every day. They normally get a briefing on important items that occurred the previous shift and certain things to look out for. There are items like wanted people, cars that may be sought in robberies, and missing people. Eventually all the officers line up and are checked by the sergeant to make sure you have all your equipment and are ready for the street. Your firearm is one of the items that are checked during this inspection. Then the officers go out to their squads and check their equipment like lights and siren, shotgun, flashlights, etc. After the roll call room, we had a stop at the booking room where all people who are arrested are booked into the district. The officer advised all prisoners to be booked on the red bench before being put into a cell.
Our group next went out into the garage where boys were getting free haircuts and girls were getting their hair styled. Once outside There were numerous tables lined up with a variety of things like insurance, health agencies, car repair shops, etc. In addition, in the parking lot was the bomb truck, trucks for the horses plus the horses themselves, officer bicycles and bounce houses for the kids to play inside. I asked the captain did all the districts have an open house like this. He said no we plus the academy are the only ones. I advised him all the districts should do this. He advised it takes a lot of effort to put this on and some other locations don’t have the time.
From my observations the people really loved this event, and a few told me they come almost every year, and this is the 14th year this was held. This really gives the average citizen some inner workings in the department and what goes on within the department. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. I will ask the chief about expanding this to other locations the next time I see him.