August 7, 2009 

NEWS FROM THE MAYOR

Dear Friends,

Ensuring public safety is one of my top priorities as Mayor. I am proud to share with you two recent developments with the Milwaukee Police Department that will continue the reduction of crime throughout our city.

The City of Milwaukee recently became the recipient of a $10.29 million award from the federal COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). This federal grant will fund 50 police officers and fully funds their entry level salaries and fringe benefits for 36 months. The City of Milwaukee received a grant to cover the maximum number of officers awarded. This is another example of one of our city departments that have successfully followed my directive to be aggressive and creative in finding additional funding sources.

In addition, the Milwaukee Police Department recently unveiled an advertising and recruitment campaign to “brand” the MPD and the City of Milwaukee in a positive light, to highlight the efforts that MPD has made in reducing the number of crime victims by 3,000 last year, and to assist the MPD in its recruitment efforts. The campaign’s theme is “Be a Force,” which is not only directed at the members of our police department, but to all citizens to be a part of making a positive change in their community.

This campaign was created in partnership with the advertising agency Cramer-Krasselt/Milwaukee, and was a pro bono effort. Local media outlets will be donating their advertising space to the campaign. I would like to thank Cramer-Krasselt as well as the various media outlets for their generosity in their collaboration on this important advertising campaign which used no taxpayer money.

Lastly, I wanted to express my gratitude to the Milwaukee Police Department and its ongoing efforts to identify new and innovative means to reduce crime and make our city safe for all residents.
 

Sincerely,

Mayor, City of Milwaukee  

Visit my website at: http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/mayor