MILWAUKEE — After his officers arrested a car full of young people for stealing cars and shooting guns, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman sent an email Wednesday evening to every newsroom in the city.
The email began, "As Chief of Police, a lot of things keep me awake at night." Before it ended, the Chief listed several questions he would like the media to start asking.
We don’t typically take reporting assignments from law enforcement. However, after discussing it, we saw value in addressing those specific questions.
Watch: MPD Chief answers his own questions about Milwaukee crime
We begin that process here by directing the chief’s questions back to Jeffrey Norman.
Steve: “Beginning with your first question, why do people not stop when the Milwaukee Police Department tries to pull them over?”
Chief Norman: “I don’t have an answer to that question. That was a question posed to you.”
Steve: “You don’t have any thoughts as to why people try to evade a traffic stop?”
Chief Norman: “One of the things I don’t want to do is speculate. I don’t want to put words in people’s mouths.”
Steve: “We’ve reported at TMJ4 on traffic stops and police pursuits extensively over the last few years…”
Steve: “You’ve got about a 52 percent chance of eluding Milwaukee police in an escape. Do you think people who decide to run take that into account—that they have a better chance of getting away than getting caught?”
Chief Norman: “So, I don’t come to that conclusion. I do know we still engage…”
Chief Norman: “But to get into the mind of who is fleeing—not responding to our efforts to enforce the law—those are questions we can pose, but a lot of times those answers are not given to us.”
Steve: “From a law enforcement perspective, when 52 percent of the people you are pursuing get away from Milwaukee police officers, is the existing pursuit policy an effective deterrent?”
Chief Norman: “The pursuit policy is a tool.”
Steve: “Is it a deterrent, though?”
Chief Norman: “It’s a tool.”
Chief Norman: “To answer that particular question—should we be doing it—the public wants us to do it.”
Steve: “The next question you asked in your email is, ‘Why are so many people driving without a license?’”
Chief Norman: “Well, I do know this: The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee cannot put on a driver’s license program because of a lack of funding.”
Steve: “As part of Project Drive Safer, we also reported in Milwaukee a driver can get caught behind the wheel without a license an infinite number of times and never get more than a ticket.”
Chief Norman: “We enforce the law, Steve.”
Steve: “I have to think if word got out to people that if I drive without a license and there’s a chance my car is going to get taken from me, that would act as a deterrent.”
Chief Norman: “I agree. I agree.”
Steve: “And you say there are rules of engagement that prohibit your officers from doing that?”
Chief Norman: “There are rules of engagement, and we have to follow the law. When that part of the infraction allows, the vehicle can be towed.”
Steve: “Why didn’t we see a more aggressive summer curfew enforcement this year? I know last summer we made a big deal out of it.”
Chief Norman: “So the enforcement has always been there, the expectation—not only for the individual youth but also the parents…”
Chief Norman: “We also have to understand there are rules of engagement, and we need to be very careful because of the oversight regarding our stop-and-frisk policy. We have to ensure that we are on solid ground—not just on a whim—so we are not violating anyone’s constitutional rights or in violation of our stop-and-frisk policy.”
MPD reports that so far this year, they have issued 29 curfew tickets to minors and four to parents. That is down from more than 400 tickets ten years ago.
We have also requested to speak with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office on these same topics. We will update you when that happens.
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