MILWAUKEE — Common Council President Cavalier Johnson has issued a statement regarding a Milwaukee Police Department tweet from Thursday.
On Thursday, the Milwaukee Police Department posted a tweet addressing MPD resources. They said, "the Mayor and Common Council reduced our budget by 60 police officers this year," and continued on by saying that since then, homicides and non-fatal shootings have increased.
MPD is committed to serving our community with the resources we are afforded. However, the Mayor and Common Council reduced our budget by 60 police officers this year. The homicide rate has more than doubled & non-fatal shootings have increased by over 35% since 2019. #DidYouKnow
— Milwaukee Police (@MilwaukeePolice) June 11, 2020
Now, Common Council President Johnson has issued a statement asking that MPD take down the tweet. He said, "We must work to heal and improve our community together and not resort to petty social media barbs."
He said putting the information aside, a tweet jabbing at local leaders is a misuse of resources.
Several hours after Johnson issued his statement, the Milwaukee Police Department posted another tweet saying everything they tweeted was factual and it was a response to questions asked about defunding the police.
The Milwaukee Police Department’s recent Tweet was in response to comments related to questions regarding defunding police and how that would impact the City of Milwaukee. The information in the statement is factual. MPD looks forward to positive dialogue in the future.
— Milwaukee Police (@MilwaukeePolice) June 12, 2020
The Milwaukee Common Council hasn't had any further comment nor has Johnson.
