Violent crime in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has spiked since 2020, including an approximately 70% increase in non-fatal shootings. This spike in violence has resulted in Milwaukee recording one of the highest homicide rates of all large U.S. cities each year during that period. Due to challenges managing this large volume of violent crime and a desire to improve their clearance rates, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) decided to participate in the National Case Closed Project to obtain a comprehensive assessment of its response to fatal and non-fatal shooting cases and to receive free technical assistance to support the department with improving their shooting case clearance rates.
MPD's Criminal Investigations Bureau is composed of seven divisions—Homicide, Violent Crimes, General Crimes, Special Investigations, Sensitive Crimes, Forensics, and Fusion. The Homicide Division investigates homicides, suspicious deaths, infant deaths, and officer-involved shootings. The Violent Crimes Divisions investigates non-fatal shootings along with other aggravated assaults, and assists the Homicide Division when necessary. The Special Investigations Division significantly contributes to shooting prevention and investigations through its Violence Reduction and Fugitive Apprehension Units.
An RTI-led team comprising criminal investigators, forensic scientists, prosecutors, victim service experts, social scientists, and related experts assessed MPD's policies and practices for responding to fatal and non-fatal shootings. The assessment included a review of MPD's policies, on-site observations of facilities and equipment, personnel interviews with MPD and its partners and community stakeholders, and a review of investigative case files.
The assessment team found that MPD's homicide and non-fatal shooting investigators had extremely high caseloads, due largely to the high volume of shootings in Milwaukee and the shortage of investigators within the department, but also seemingly due in part to the teamwork approach applied to shooting investigations by MPD. Although this approach has proven successful for the department in the past, the assessment team recommended implementing a new rotation system for designating a lead detective to each case.
The assessment report also recommends developing a separate division dedicated to investigating non-fatal shootings, and restructuring the Forensics Division to improve the analysis of digital and audiovisual evidence.
Overall, MPD is doing an excellent job of engaging the community, building trust, and fostering better working relationships between the department and various community organizations. Further, the assessment team found that MPD is filled with dedicated, hard-working personnel who are committed to preventing and responding to violent crime despite the many challenges they face. RTI is currently working with MPD to support them in implementing evidence-informed changes to address these findings.
*To learn more about Milwaukee Police Department's Assessment, please contact caseclosed@rti.org.
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