MPD: Quarterly report shows decrease in crime from last year in Milwaukee

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – According to the Milwaukee Police Department, overall crime in 2024 is trending better than 2023.

Police Chief Jeffrey Norman shared the quarterly review for the city Tuesday morning.

The numbers are from quarter one of 2024, which is Jan. 1 to March 31.

The data shows all types of crime are down in Milwaukee compared to quarter one of last year.

"We continue to see the right direction, the right trajectory, but we also know we have a lot of work to do," said Chief Norman, who calls the recent statistics encouraging.

Homicides are down: there were 38 in quarter one of 2023, and 23 in quarter one of 2024, which is a 39% decrease.

There was also a decrease in non-fatal shootings, down 27% from quarter one of last year, and total violent crime was down 8%.

"This is not a sprint, this is a marathon, and we need to make sure we have sustainable, consistent behaviors going on in our community," Norman said.

MPD and Mayor Cavalier Johnson credit community engagement and outreach.

They hope more families take advantage of those programs.

"There are a number of organizations all throughout Milwaukee that want to serve our young people, so the hand is extended," Mayor Johnson said. "We need young people and their families to extend the hand back, to be engaged in a positive manner this summer."

Chief Norman says guns are still the biggest problem.

"We need to continue to utilize all our resources, messaging, ensuring we're doing proper conflict resolution, ensuring that we're locking up our weapons, ensuring that we're talking to our children," he said.

As we head into summer, MPD and the mayor want to reinforce that public safety takes the entire community.

"Whether they're working in their block watch organizations, whether they're calling things in to their police department stations, whether they're calling things in anonymously to Crime Stoppers, everybody working together on this makes a difference," Johnson said.

Since the start of the second quarter, there have been additional homicides, but they're still down by about 25%.

Quarter one crime is down overall from peak pandemic years, 2020 and 2021.

Click here for the latest crime data from Milwaukee Police Department.