MILWAUKEE — Outside of his home in Sherman Park, Jordan Morales frequently deals with reckless driving. But a few weeks ago, it was too close to home.
“I witnessed a small white Ford SUV going maybe 80 miles per hour down Hadley Street, swerving and doing donuts in the intersection of 41st and Hadley, going up on the lawns and sidewalk,” he said.
It was when the vehicle came around for a second lap of lawlessness that Morales picked up the phone to call police.
“I called 911 four times over the course of about an hour and a half,” Morales said.
In that entire time, Morales says the white SUV continued tearing up the streets.
“They basically had free reign of the streets for an hour and a half,” Morales said. “By the time officers got out here, these guys moved on to bigger and better things.”
Morales’ first call was at 8:17 p.m. It was still early enough that his children could have been outside, especially as the weather continues warming up.
“My kids are entitled to be out at 8:00 p.m.,” Morales said. “I have a sense of hopelessness because the police aren’t coming even though I called them many times. Another neighbor came out and, he’s been here for decades. He says he doesn’t even call anymore.”
MPD declined an interview on this topic but tell the I-Team, “Depending on the information that is provided by the caller it may warrant a response from a squad, however; in this instance the information that was provided by the caller did not meet the criteria.”
From January through April of 2023, Milwaukee Police have received 480 calls for reckless drivers. In 317 of those cases (66 percent), police were unable to locate the complainant. Police say this could mean they were unable to find the caller or the suspect.
Police marked 90 of the calls as completed, 31 calls ended with advisement, 27 are still listed as "Service in Progress" and 11 are considered open investigations. Additionally, of the 480 total calls for reckless drivers, police issued two citations.
“I wouldn’t say this is a quality of life issue,” Morales said. “This was reckless driving in progress, which is one of the top priorities, supposedly, of the Milwaukee Police Department. When they’re not able to respond to that, when people are acting in such a lawless manner, it makes you feel completely hopeless.”
The non-response has Morales concerned about the bigger picture. He feels this kind of response is seen by the reckless drivers who mistreat his block.
“It completely emboldens them,” Morales said. “They already know police aren’t going to show up to them acting crazy. They know there are no consequences and it’s true. There are no consequences.”
Locust Street has a number of reckless driving traffic calming projects on it. There are several speed humps and a small roundabout. Though, the driver Morales called police about apparently knocked over the signs on the roundabout. He says these engineering projects have forced drivers to slow down but there is still a small minority of reckless drivers who still wreak havoc in his neighborhood.
“There are people who are terrorists and fly over the roundabout,” Morales said. “It has been effective but not totally effective. That’s what police are for. To fill the gap between what we can control with engineering and total criminal behavior that you need an officer to respond to. Residents deserve it. They want it. But we don’t get it.”
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