Half Of 2022 Milwaukee Homicides Unsolved, Police Point To Capacity

MILWAUKEE, WI — Police have solved only half of Milwaukee's homicides this year. The high number of killings and the capacity of the police department were hurdles to investigations, the city police chief said.

Milwaukee has seen more than 50 homicides this year, and data from the Milwaukee Police Department showed 50 percent of them were cleared between January and March 2022.

Though homicides nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, the rate at which police solve them has held steady.

In 2021, police cleared 51 percent of 194 homicides, police data showed. In 2020, police cleared 54 percent of 190 homicides.

From 2014-2017, out of 494 homicides reported in the city, fewer than half resulted in a suspect being convicted, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Clearing a homicide doesn't necessarily mean that a suspect is convicted — a suspect could die, flee the country or otherwise not be found, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Some homicide investigations can take up to 10 years to be solved, depending on the challenges of the investigation, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman told Patch. Norman joined the police department in 1994 and was sworn in as chief in 2021.

"No two investigations are the same," Norman said. "Not all crimes are the same, but they involve witnesses and physical evidence."

Attrition and retiring officers within the police force, paired with distrust by some communities, are hurdles for investigators, Norman said.

Frontline officers and homicide detectives, who interview witnesses and provide testimony for prosecutors in court, are the main driver of homicide investigations in Milwaukee. Police are replacing officers, but not adding new ones, and homicide detectives are promoted within the department, Norman said.

Since detectives are promoted internally, they have to come from a pool of patrol officers and the department has to be mindful of who it promotes, Norman said. A set capacity of officers may limit the department's ability to promote quality investigators.

"I call it a juggling act, a number of balls are in the air," Norman said of finding new detectives.

Witnesses are also essential in investigating and convicting homicide suspects, whether they give tips to police in interviews or testify against accused killers in court. After George Floyd's murder in 2020, some communities became more skeptical of the police, and the Milwaukee Police Department has faced similar issues.

"Some parts of the community have full trust, some trust or no trust," Norman said. His strategy to build trust is to interact more with the community, despite high-profile misconduct as in the murder of George Floyd or beating of Frank Jude Jr. setting police departments back.

The lack of trust between communities and police may make people more hesitant to talk if they have information about a crime, Norman said. Increasing police presence in communities, partnering with violence prevention groups and offering platforms to contact the police anonymously are a few avenues the department has used to build trust.

Police partners like the Office of Violence Prevention and 414 Life will reach out to people who are "at risk" on the police's radar and intervene in conflicts before they turn negative and redirect violence, Norman said.

The chief said he didn't mind the minimal policing approach of his department's partners. "Police are a finite resource, and I don't mind having sworn officers respond to sworn things, like a bank robbery, an active shooter or a domestic violence situation," he said.

Though partners are finding a role in public safety, Milwaukee police still have a high volume of calls for police services. "I'm still concerned we have to respond to preventable incidents," he said.

See Also: 'Scared To Talk': What's Fueling The Deadly Crime Wave In Milwaukee