When people look at crime, they usually look at things like armed robberies, car jackings, sexual assaults, thefts and of course homicides. Homicide is universally considered the worst crime out there. The homicide rate in Milwaukee has gone up the past few years and the overall clearance rate. Years ago, Milwaukee had a clearance rate on homicides of around 80 percent. Just a few years ago it was in the low 70s. But now the homicide clearance rate is around the low 50s. What does that mean to the citizens of Milwaukee. It means you have a good chance of getting away with murder. The people committing these crimes are getting younger and younger. Many are from disputes and arguments that get out of hand quickly. A few times a month you hear about a road rage incident either on the street or expressway. You can accidentally cut someone off while driving and lose your life because someone is upset.
I am mentioning this because now it appears we have citizens trying to do follow up on the homicide crimes of their loved ones. A lady today was on the news stating she was conducting follow up on the murder of her baby brother since the police were not doing anything. She continued, “I know who the suspect is, and I have turned the information over to the police”. There is video of a possible suspect, but he hasn’t been identified yet. This lady knocked on doors interviewing people just like the police would do. The Milwaukee Police Department homicide unit has been down numerous detectives from the past few years. It is hard to keep up with the new homicides, let alone try to follow up on the older cases. There are many families hurting in the city wondering if their cases will ever be solved. This lady said I have found what the police could not and hopefully now there can be an arrest.
You know it is getting kind of bad when regular people feel they must investigate because the police are so busy. For one thing it is dangerous because anything can happen. You might be putting yourself in the cross hairs of the suspect if you get too close to them. I do understand because if my loved one was killed, I might feel the same way. Now I have mentioned this in the past before. The department needs to hire back ex homicide detectives to follow up on these unsolved cases. A fresh set of eyes could maybe find something that was overlooked. I believe more public exposure could hopefully open some of these cases. So, let’s help some of these families and give them some form of closure. There are people out there that know something that could solve some of theses cases. Some of them are scared but others would probably come forward if they could remain anonymous. In 2024 could we try to solve a few more of these cases?
Leave a Reply