The Milwaukee Police Association is raising the alarm about severely low staffing levels in District 7, one of the city’s busiest police districts.
The MPA, which represents rank-and-file officers, expressed concern about the lineup for District 7 on June 10. That lineup, which is the internal schedule that the district uses, showed a single officer and squad assigned to patrol the D7 day shift that day (note: the people listed to the left were inside officers not assigned to patrol, such as limited-duty, the captain, and so forth).
MPD said in a June 12 press release that its own lineup for June 10 failed to show five officers shifted from other duties or called in/held over to help.
Either way, according to MPA President Alex Ayala, it wasn’t enough, and the June 10 staffing issue is symbolic of a chronic problem that he and many officers believe is imperiling safety. We can also tell you that, behind the scenes, many officers are deeply disturbed by the staffing issues and the lack of a contract. They don’t feel supported by the city, and we have heard this from so many officers that we have lost count.
Milwaukee police officers haven’t had a pay raise since January 2022 (that’s headed to arbitration in August), exacerbating the recruiting problems, Ayala said. That’s one reason spurring the exodus of officers. WRN previously reported that the number of sworn MPD officers on the streets has plummeted from 1996, when there was a high of 2,176 sworn officers. At the end of 2024, there were 1,587 sworn officers, and 1,310 if you don’t count commanders and supervisors, MPA says.
Less than half of the budgeted recruit positions in 2024 were filled, a Fire and Police Commission chart revealed.
One source we spoke to, who can not be identified for fear of retribution, told WRN that, at one point on June 10, multiple D7 911 calls were pending as a result of the low staffing.
The MPD says a two-person captain’s car and a single-person DV car were shifted to help the lone officer take assignments. However, the MPA and other sources connected to the force tell us flatly that those cars are not generally supposed to be assigned to patrol. The MPD says a late shift officer was kept over to help, but the union says that officer wouldn’t have stayed for the entire day shift. MPD says it also called in a day shift officer.
WRN asked MPD how many assignments the captain’s and DV cars handled on June 10 and how many hours the called-in/held over officers worked, and we were told to file an open records request for the information.
“On that day, Milwaukee Police District Seven had three hospital guards to staff, two sick calls, three limited duty officers inside, one officer on other excused union time, and one at drone training,” MPD explained. Limited duty officers don’t respond to calls.
“The lineup failed to reflect all squads taking assignments. District 7 also had a two-person captain’s car, and a one-person DV car patrolling and taking assignments. Additionally, we had a late shift officer stay over and called in a day shift officer to backfill to patrol and take assignments. There are also resources from other districts if needed that would be available to assist,” wrote MPD.
MPA President Alex Ayala says a safe staffing level for a district the size of #7 would be “at least a minimum of 10-12 officers.”
Ayala said the department is “over 200 officers short, and about 50 detectives short. It’s dangerous. It’s a safety issue for not only the officers but also for the citizens in the community calling 911.”
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. And he said the MPD failed to “reflect it in their lineups. The lineup showed one officer patrolling.”
Ayala said that District 7 is one of the three busiest districts in the city.
“The department admits failing to show those changes,” he said of the lineup.
Of the captain’s car, Ayala said, “They don’t (normally) take calls.” He said that captain cars are normally assigned to do follow-up on “whatever hot topic is going on in a district, say a burglary or sexual assault. The captain’s car is not supposed to be put off on assignments.” So if they are being diverted to routine patrol, “now that follow-up is not getting done,” he said.
Similarly, he said the DV (domestic violence) car is “supposed to be doing DV stuff. They are working to try to prevent DV homicides, to take cases to the DA.” So their regular duties didn’t “get done that day,” he added.
Merely shifting officers from other duties “doesn’t fix anything.”
“Tuesday night in the City of Milwaukee. ONE Police squad to patrol the entirety of District 7 – a 13.3 sq mi area with a population of more than 98,000,” the MPD wrote previously. “This is the definition of irony – low staffing is tied to underpaid Police Officers without a contract. Meanwhile, the Mayor serves up a massive new contract for the Police Chief. The Police Officers’ contract with the city matters. Why? Look at the violent crime numbers from this week alone – this is about the safety of city residents, visitors and our Police Officers. #TheForceBehindTheForce.”
According to Ayala, “My beef isn’t even with the chief. I understand the chief has limited resources that the mayor and Police and Fire Commission are giving him.”
He said the city’s failure to “give officers a contract” is interconnected with the staffing concerns.
“If we had wages, you would have more officers trying to come and work here,” he said. Instead, the city of Milwaukee is asking officers to “take a pay cut” to come here, he said. “Why would you come work here versus going to Greenfield or Muskego? You don’t get shot at, run over by a motorcycle; you don’t have someone shooting a rifle in the street.”
