Neighborhood Safety Initiative (NSI)
The Milwaukee Police Department is initiating a proactive directed patrol initiative designed to reduce the levels of violent crime and calls for service experienced in the City of Milwaukee. The resources dedicated to this initiative will be focused in specific areas in which incidents of homicides, non-fatal shootings, armed robberies, gun related offenses, recovered firearms, search warrants, and "shots fired" calls are high. Additionally, density maps illustrating calls for service will be utilized. The Intelligence Division, in coordination with District and Division commanders will be responsible for identifying the target areas.
The Neighborhood Safety Initiative (NSI) will begin on Sunday, May 20, 2007 and conclude on Saturday, September 8, 2007. The purpose of this initiative is to reduce violent crime, to increase citizen safety, to reduce calls for service, and to provide a visible police presence. Assigned officers will proactively investigate suspicious activities; and enforce existing firearms, drug, and traffic laws. Quality of life issues will also be addressed.
The NSI will have two main components: Uniform beat patrol personnel will concentrate on field interviews of suspicious subjects, however, they will also engage in positive citizen contacts intended to increase police-community relations and to elicit useful criminal intelligence. Uniform squad patrol personnel will concentrate on traffic stops and field interviews of suspicious subjects in the target areas, and will assist the beat patrol units when called upon. Officers assigned to the NSI will concentrate their efforts and contacts on suspicious persons or situations, as opposed to general traffic violations. This type of targeted deterrence strategy is more likely to reduce violent crime levels than a general deterrence strategy.
Quality of life situations, which can have an adverse impact upon neighborhoods, will be aggressively enforced. The quality of life stops will be expanded to determine if the individuals stopped are involved in more serious types of criminal activity. Personnel from the Criminal Investigation Bureau will be called upon to assist in felony related investigations that result from a NSI stop.
When appropriate, NSI personnel will seek the assistance of the City Attorney's Office, District Attorney's Office, Community Prosecutors, and other governmental agencies in an effort to improve the quality of life in the affected areas. Community Prosecutors can be utilized to pursue both civil and criminal remedies against individuals involved in criminal activity. Officers will be required to make referrals to the Department of Neighborhood Services for properties or other situations that add to neighborhood blight and a decline in the quality of life.
Planning for NSI has been extensive. The personnel assigned will have specialized duties and in essence be considered a new, temporary work location. It is our intent to backfill the vacancies in the Districts caused by reassignments to the NSI. In this way, our ability to respond to calls for service will not be compromised or diminished.