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With help from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office, the city and many south side neighborhoods have successfully attacked nuisance properties with the expanded Community Prosecution Unit, a program started more than six years ago with just one community prosecutor.
There are now 10, six from the district attorney's office and four assistant city attorneys, with eight stationed in satellite offices in six Milwaukee police district stations and community-based organizations. Ald. Witkowiak, a longtime supporter of the program, said he receives regular reports about the program's successes in helping rid neighborhoods of nuisance properties. "The Community Prosecutors are very effective at involving landlords and residents in bringing problems to an end – something they do through the weight of the legal system and by focusing many city entities at once on a property," he said.
"The program has made a huge positive impact on the quality of life in this community," Ald. Witkowiak said.
The goal of the community prosecutors is to work with homeowners and landlords to resolve issues. But they can bring criminal prosecution charges against problem tenants and/or prosecute property owners and charge them for police services if officers are called to a property for certain crimes more than three times in a month. Complaints include nuisance properties, drug dealing, prostitution, trash, dangerous dogs and code violations.
The majority of the prosecution team's effort deals with nuisance properties, homes and buildings that are the repeated sources of complaints and police calls. They also meet with owners and landlords to discuss solutions, including enrolling them in the city's Landlord Training Program. In addition, they can help neighbors get involved in block clubs, give crime prevention speeches in schools, discuss crime prevention techniques with residents and inform them how to effectively report criminal behavior to police. The community prosecutors are accessible to police, community groups and citizens in person or by cell phones.
In the 12th District, the Southside Organizing Committee has worked as a proactive partner with the city and the CPU, acting in part as a conduit through which residents can report properties with chronic nuisances. Ald. Witkowiak said SOC has been very successful in getting the CPU involved in many reported cases, which has led to the elimination of nuisance activities in several neighborhoods.
The agencies involved in the collaboration include the City Attorney's office, District Attorney's office, Milwaukee Police Department, Health Department, Department of Neighborhood Services, Department of Public Works, community based organizations, citizens and the religious community.
To Contact the Community Prosecution Unit in the 12th Aldermanic District:
- Eloisa De Leon, assistant city attorney - cell phone (349-5320)
- District #2 Station phone - 935-7626
- Heidi Galvan, assistant district attorney, District #2 Station phone - 935-7627
- Southside Organizing Committee - Phone - 672-8090
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