Milwaukee police officer dies; MPD staffing shortage concerns
MPD staffing shortage concerns
Milwaukee police officer Kendall Corder is the sixth MPD officer killed in the line of duty since 2018. The Milwaukee Police Association said the department is approximately 200 officers short.
MILWAUKEE - Flags across Wisconsin are flying at half-staff in honor of Milwaukee police officer Kendall Corder.
He's the sixth MPD officer killed in the line of duty since 2018.
Milwaukee police officer shot, killed; remembering fallen officers
For the first time in more than two years, a Milwaukee police officer has died in the line of duty. Officer Kendall Corder was shot on Thursday night.
The backstory:
Corder and fellow officer Christopher McCray were shot and wounded near 25th and Garfield on Thursday, June 26. MPD said the suspect, later identified as 22-year-old Tremaine Jones, was taken into custody early Friday morning.
Kendall Corder (Credit: Red Rozay)
Police say the gunman "ambushed" the officers, with gunfire hitting both.
McCray was released from the hospital on Saturday, but Corder did not survive.
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Both officers served in District 2. But they were responding to a call in District 3.
What they're saying:
"I want to start by acknowledging something that's been weighing heavily on all of us, that's the tragic loss of one of our Milwaukee police officers who unfortunately died in the line of duty this past weekend," Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. "One of the critical questions here is about police staffing. And I continually point out the fact that in the budgets that I present to the common council every single year, we're working to make sure that we increase the opportunity to recruit police officers."
By the numbers:
The city’s budget calls for three classes a year of 65 police recruits per class.
But, the actual numbers are much smaller. This month’s graduation saw only 25 graduates, which is about 40% of the goal.
The Milwaukee Police Association said the department is approximately 200 officers short.
Johnson said the city is trying to recruit more by offering signing bonuses for current officers from other departments.
But recruiting is a national problem.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police found that on average, American police agencies are operating at approximately 91% of their authorized staffing levels.
Local perspective:
Johnson said keeping the city safe takes the whole community.
"That was not just on police. We should dispel that rumor, because it's not just an issue around police. It's an issue for all of us to take on, not just the elected officials, not just the police, but folks in our community and our neighborhoods, too. That's why I call on them to do what they can in order to make sure that we're curbing violence," he said. "If there's somebody in your family that you know is out there doing stuff that's bad, they're doing dirt. They're like, they got guns, and they're hurting folks, you got to turn those folks in. You can do that anonymously."
Dig deeper:
The mayor also repeated his calls for federal and state lawmakers to act on changing gun laws.
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Act 12, the shared revenue law, comes into play when it comes to MPD staffing.
That gave Milwaukee the power to approve a city sales tax, putting strings on the city.
The number of MPD officers is not to drop, and it has a decade to add to the force – reaching 1,725 total officers.
The Source: FOX6 News spoke with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and utilized prior coverage.