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Milwaukee Police Chief "We Have a Societal Crisis"
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| DJ RJT |
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=492945 (Full text also below).
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Milwaukee police arrested 14,000 people, snagged 752 guns and grabbed 37 pounds of cocaine - all in just three months this summer.
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74412Crime in Milwaukee
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Photo/Rick Wood
Milwaukee Police Chief Nannette Hegerty displays firearms recovered by police as she discusses the departments summer plan for fighting crime at a news conference at the Police Administration Building on Wednesday. The day coincided with the revelation of two especially shocking crimes this week.
Monday: As Many as 19 Rape Girl
An 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted Monday night by as many as 19 males in a house on Milwaukee's north side, according to charges filed in Children's Court. The girl told police a 16-year-old girl had urged her to have sex with some teenagers and a 40-year-old man. That adult told investigators the teenage girl directed the 11-year-old during the sexual activity. Investigators have recovered a video camera from the scene. The 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy have been charged. More charges are expected. Police found the younger girl during a search after she was reported missing.
Tuesday: Special Olympics Athlete Murdered
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Brandon J. Sprewer, 22, was on his way home from his job at a grocery store Tuesday night when he was robbed and shot at a bus stop in the 9100 block of W. Silver Spring Drive. Before he died, Sprewer told police the gunman shot him in the stomach before he could get out his money. Sprewer graduated from Marshall High School in 2002, played piano and was active in Special Olympics. He died at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital. Police have no suspects.
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Photo/Gary Porter
A portrait of Brandon Sprewer is held by (from left) his cousin Montoya Clark, grandmother Billie Clark, and aunt Michele Clark.
Despite such seemingly impressive numbers, crime continues to surge, fueled by what Police Chief Nannette Hegerty calls a "societal crisis" unfolding in neighborhoods gripped by unstable families, few jobs, rampant drug use, teen pregnancy, and topped with a significant dose of anger and hopelessness, the chief said.
Faced with such challenges, police can't do it all, she said.
"This is a problem bigger than law enforcement," Hegerty said Wednesday. "I think we have a societal crisis."
More evidence of that surfaced Wednesday. A man who participated in Special Olympics was shot and killed Tuesday in a robbery, and an 11-year-old girl was gang-raped earlier in the week by as many 19 people.
In parts of the city where shootings and other violence have become commonplace, the crimes were noteworthy for their senselessness and brutality.
The crimes were unrelated and coincidentally broke on the day Hegerty chose to talk about her department's summer accomplishments. The day's overall message seemed to be that police officers are busy but deep problems persist.
Last week, Ald. Bob Donovan lambasted the Police Department for not doing more to address violent crime and failing to keep up with calls for service. He demanded a plan from police.
At a news conference Wednesday, Hegerty said the department had a plan for the summer, drawn up in January, and it yielded the arrests and seizures between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The department responded to 154,000 calls for service in that time, she said.
The chief did not provide numbers from earlier summers for comparison.
Asked what message she would have for residents frustrated by her department's sometimes slow response to calls, Hegerty said, "I understand that frustration. I am frustrated too. . . . We don't have enough officers to address the hot spots of violence and respond to the barking dog complaints."
Homicide is down this year, but crime in two other closely watched categories is up from 2005 - assaults by 22% and robberies by 36%, Hegerty said. The chief said other cities are seeing the same thing, though numbers are not final.
Brandon J. Sprewer, 22, was the latest victim of robbery and homicide in the city. At 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sprewer was at a bus stop in the 9100 block of W. Silver Spring Drive, going from his job at a grocery store to his grandparents' home.
Before he died, Sprewer told police the gunman walked up and stood at the stop for several minutes before he pulled out a gun and demanded money. Before Sprewer could comply, the suspect shot him in the stomach. Sprewer died at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital. . Police are asking anyone with information about the crime to call (414) 935-7360.
Sprewer lived with his father after his mother died of a heart attack last year. He was slow at reading but was largely self-sufficient, his family said.
He worked at Jewel Osco in the 1700 block of W. Silver Spring Drive for the past five years, graduated from Marshall High School in 2002, played piano and was active in Special Olympics. He played softball and basketball, ran track and bowled, said Jodie Theis, agency manager and coach of Team Milwaukee, a Special Olympics team organized through Milwaukee Public Schools.
Sprewer had played on an all-star softball team at Miller Park just last month.
"He was an amazing athlete and was just a great team leader," Theis said. "If someone was down, he would pick them up. If he didn't make it, he would cheer on the next person.
"I have an athlete here right now, and I don't know how to tell him (of the homicide)."
Sprewer was active at Robert Thomas Jr. AME Church, near N. 1st St. and W. Auer Ave., and enjoyed playing with his cousins, said an aunt, Michele Clark.
"He was sweet and did whatever he had to do," she said. "He never messed with anyone."
Sandra E. Harrison, Sprewer's cousin, said anger and sadness gripped her as she thought about another senseless death. Harrison, 49, said she had recently met 13-year-old Candace Moss in her role as a mentor. Moss was killed by an errant bullet last week.
"I'm tired of the innocent dying for nothing. The productive people, in 20 years, will all be dead because these hoodlums are killing them off," Harrison said. "The way (Sprewer) was killed was sickening to me."
In the other case to surface Wednesday, an 11-year-old girl was repeatedly sexually assaulted by up to 19 boys in a north side home as a 16-year-old girl told her which sex acts to perform and watched, according to complaints filed in Milwaukee County Children's Court.
In addition, a 40-year-old male relative of the older girl participated in the sex acts, which took place in the older girl's home on Monday, records state.
Matt Torbenson, an assistant district attorney, said Milwaukee police were still looking for suspects and have executed a search warrant at the house where the incident occurred. He said they have recovered condoms and a video camera. The girl was able to identify about six possible suspects, and DNA samples were being checked against semen and other evidence found on the girl, he said.
On Wednesday the 16-year-old girl was charged with party to the crime of four counts of first-degree sexual assault, and a 15-year-old boy was charged with two counts of party to the crime of first-degree sexual assault. The girl's relative, who had been visiting at the time, was expected to be charged in adult court.
"The petition is one of the most distressing I have read, ever," Court Commissioner Julia Vosper said Wednesday, noting that the victim was just barely 11 years old. "It's extremely outrageous and depressing." Vosper ordered both juveniles kept in secure detention until their next hearing.
Police discovered the situation Tuesday after the 11-year-old was reported missing and they began searching the neighborhood, authorities said. They found the girl at the home where the assaults had occurred, and she told them what had happened, Torbenson said.
The complaints give the following account:
The 11-year-old girl told police she had a crush on the 16-year-old girl and went to her house on Monday to visit and was directed into the girl's bedroom, where she was asked to perform oral sex on three boys, ages 14 to 16 years old, in a closet. Afterward, the older girl directed her to have sex with the older man. Then the younger girl said she went into the basement. She estimated that 15 other males were there and that she had sexual contact with all of them, sometimes with more than one at a time.
The 15-year-old boy charged in the case admitted being in the basement at the time. He estimated that 20 males were present at that time and said the girl willingly had sex with him and others. The 16-year-old girl told police that she did not encourage the younger girl to have sex with the boys. The 16-year-old's relative told police the older girl directed the younger girl in the sexual activity.
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When I first read this I could have sworn it said "Florida" each time it said "Milwaukee"
:nervous: |
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| DjConfessions |
| blame it on GTA: San Andreas |
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| Subey |
| That this kind of darkness is allowed corrodes my mind. How easy Ted had it with AM. |
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| DJ RJT |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orbax
short version? |
Read the first two paragraphs and you'll get the gist of it... |
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| Orbax |
| yeah, in the past we would have just killed them or something. ty modern world :\ |
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| punjabi |
| i'm from brookfield...milwaukee usually isn't that bad. sucks to hear stuff like this about your home turf. |
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| tubularbills |
| if it makes you feel any better....at least you don't live in the fattest state in the usa...:toothless |
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| DJ RJT |
| quote: | Originally posted by punjabi
i'm from brookfield...milwaukee usually isn't that bad. sucks to hear stuff like this about your home turf. |
I think Milwaukee may be "that bad" on a regular basis in certain areas, but that's purely speculation on my part.
It just seems to be a very stratified city right now, and that gap between "rich" and "poor" is growing larger and larger every day... |
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| eROs.au |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nou
Is it bad that I felt a tad bit jealous of the boys with those two girls... :p
Man how come like that never happened when I was a kid... hahaha...
Seriously though... :wtf:
Like I said, everything east is evil. |
what the is wrong with you? everyone else is disgusted and you're fantacizing about doing it. |
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| Akridrot |
| quote: | Originally posted by eROs.au
what the is wrong with you? everyone else is disgusted and you're fantacizing about doing it. |
Why are you suprised?
I'd agree if someone else said it, but this is Nou we're talking about. |
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| Temperate |
was this the city michael moore was talking about?
man that guys a prick. |
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