East side residents gather to talk about recent stretch of car break-ins as some police their own neighborhoods

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Dozens of people living in Milwaukee's east side neighborhoods gathered Wednesday night, Aug. 14, to talk about a recent uptick in car break-ins and property crime.

Some of them are now taking it upon themselves to police their neighborhoods.

Milwaukee Police Capt. Robert Thiel told the audience, "We've been noticing an uptick of entry to autos from the last couple of weeks."

That was clear to most of the people in the audience who have been dealing with smashed windows in their neighborhoods.

But Thiel said not everyone is reporting them. He said MPD needs those reports, even if people don't think anything will come of it. He said that's how they determine when and where to send officers.

"That's where we look at the heat maps to figure out where to make our primary deployments."

Third district alderman Jonathan Brostoff hosted the event, reading and answering questions submitted by the audience.

Brostoff called them complicated issues -pointing especially to the need for more police recruits- but nothing the city couldn't overcome.

Roughly 50 people attended the town hall, and many of them had personal stories about the recent uptick in crimes. Some are even taking it upon themselves to police it.

One man named Bryant, who did not want to use his last name, has been driving around for the past few weeks.

He said, "When I first started doing it, I was seeing a lot of activity out there. I've even seen individuals actively break windows."

He said he drives around after work, usually between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., looking for suspicious behavior. He calls any issues in to police and does not interact with anyone committing a crime.

Bryant says neighbors are telling him they're going to great lengths to avoid getting their windows smashed but it's still happening even when they leave signs saying there is nothing valuable inside.

He said, "I've heard from individuals locking their vehicle or even leaving the door open, and the windows are still broken."

But Bryant also says he has seen improvement in recent days, and a lot more MPD patrols. "They even have what seems like specialized task forces in some areas. So I've called my nights short this week. It's really been quiet out there."