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Officials in Milwaukee are cracking down on crime in the city's eastern neighborhoods

In mid-July, Bryant Junco began patrolling his neighborhood on Milwaukee's east side in the middle of the night.

Before Junco began patrolling, he had noticed car break-ins and broken windows. He thought it was just part of life downtown. But news coverage got him aware of what was going on – and that was because crime in the neighborhood had increased over the past 12 weeks. So he started driving around at night.

“We have never felt as unsafe as we do now,” Junco said of himself and some of his friends.

Junco, 40, rents two properties through AirBnB and said he warns guests that car break-ins are on the rise. However, Junco noted that there appears to have been less crime in the last week as Milwaukee police have deployed more resources to the area. He believed that perhaps offenders noticed the increased police and neighborhood watch patrols and were deterred.

Junco was one of the participants in a meeting Wednesday to address the recent increase in crime on the city's east side. The area includes popular business districts such as Brady Street and Farwell Avenue, and stretches from Pleasant Street in the south to Edgewood Avenue in the north. City Councilman Jonathan Brostoff, who represents the area, as well as representatives from the city's Department of Public Health and Safety and the Milwaukee Police Department provided information and answered questions from residents.

Authorities responded to concerns by announcing plans to increase the number of patrols and bicycle officers in the area and urging residents to report burglaries and other crimes they witness and to join neighborhood watches.

“In some ways, we may be easier targets than we used to be,” Brostoff told the Journal Sentinel, noting the decline in neighborhood association activity. “It's a problem and it's a community problem.”

The increase comes as police data shows a decline in overall crime compared to previous years

The public's concern stems from the fact that crime has increased significantly in recent weeks.

In the 12-week period from the end of May to mid-August, the number of crimes in the following categories increased significantly compared to the previous 12 weeks.

Specifically: 39 robberies compared to nine, 179 thefts compared to 93 and 182 car thefts compared to 84. The number of cases of serious bodily harm rose from 17 to 30 and the number of burglaries from 22 to 30.

Despite the short-term increase in some crimes on the east side, there are decreases in most categories compared to 2022 and 2023. Most categories are seeing a decrease of between 10% and 30% compared to those two years, with the exception of motor vehicle theft.

This reflects citywide data showing that crime statistics have declined this year compared to last year.

During the meeting, Milwaukee Police Captain Robert Thiel, who oversees the downtown and east policing area known as District One, said his department receives more emails than officially reported incidents.

He and Brostoff urged residents to report all crimes, even minor ones, as it helps the department decide where to deploy resources. They also encouraged residents to join neighborhood watches. Brostoff said neighborhood participation has declined in recent years.

He specifically mentioned the Brady Street Area Association as one of the associations whose membership has since declined, and said he had had a meeting on the issue earlier in the day.

“Getting that kind of engagement going again, both the big neighborhood associations, but more hyper-locally with the block guards and the neighbors engaged in that way, I think would be a huge help and something that everyone here could do right now,” he said during the meeting.

Thiel said the department has increased patrol numbers, partly through overtime, and deployed bicycle units in the area in response to the recent surge.

Junco believes that the lack of reporting may be one reason why the previous year's statistics, which he disputes, do not match his and others' experiences. He says the reaction to the crime caused by the meeting may have been “a little late.”

“This has been an epidemic since July and even before that,” he said.

Ashanti Hamilton, director of the city's Department of Public Health and Safety, said the city is also increasing funding for its Alert Neighbor Program, which supports street patrols or clubs to solve problems in neighborhoods and provides funding for vigilante signs, porch lights and security cameras.

Hamilton said his office is working with the crime prevention group Promise Keepers and other programs to redirect youth behavior toward “positive” activities.

“What structural measures can we take in our communities to divert the attention of young people so that they do not engage in criminal behavior just for entertainment?” asked Hamilton.

The East Side has seen some notable incidents recently, including a gang of robbers last month that targeted Milwaukee's Riverwest and Upper East Side neighborhoods. On August 1, Milwaukee police said they had arrested two teenagers in connection with the incident.

Brostoff said people's “lived experiences” were more important in discussions than considering year-on-year statistics. He said it was possible that social media was also amplifying incidents and raising awareness.

“Regardless of the statistics, regardless of the facts … it's very scary,” he said. “It means it's still a huge priority and we just have to keep working on it until it's resolved.”

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