Some want MPD's temporary 2-officer per squad policy to be permanent, but acknowledge it'd be costly

MILWAUKEE -- In the wake of the shootings of police officers in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and here in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Police Department is sending out officers in two-person squad units. FOX6 News has learned more about how long this policy will be in effect, amid questions about how this policy should be carried out. On Sunday, July 17th, near 17th and Morgan on the city's south side, 31-year-old Brandon Baranowski, a Milwaukee police officer, was on the scene of a domestic violence related investigation along with another officer. They were seated in separate squads when a suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Tomas Uriegas of West Allis, approached and fired shots.

Baranowski was struck and wounded, and had surgery Monday. Uriegas later took his own life. Milwaukee police now say officers will be dispatched in two-person squad cars full-time "until a better intelligence picture is developed regarding the Dallas and Baton Rouge attacks," and following the shooting in Milwaukee.

"What is common sense? Two officers in a car can absolutely prevent a terrible tragedy such as the one that took place Sunday morning," Mike Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association said. An MPD spokesman said the following in a statement to FOX6 News on Monday, July 18th:

Data on officer attacks According to FBI statistics for 2014, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 30 officers killed in felonious acts had assistance when they were attacked while 16 were alone. In 2013, 9 officers killed in felonious acts were alone while 16 had assistance when they were attacked. Crivello claims the data is incomplete since it cannot measure attacks that never happened because a suspect was deterred by the presence of multiple officers. "The chief is a smart man," Crivello said, "He knows that crime that doesn’t happen is very difficult to measure. He knows the crimes we have prevented are nearly impossible to measure." Executing the plan In the short term, there are different ideas as to how best to carry out this policy change.

"If we have X amount of squads out there now that are one-man, we ought to be able to add that additional man on overtime. That would be my desire," Alderman Bob Donovan said. "There would not be more officers pulled in to enable us to have two-man squads. There simply would be less cars on the street with the same amount of officers," Crivello said. Milwaukee Police did not respond to our request for information on how the change would be carried out. Crivello wants the two-officer per squad policy to be permanent -- which he acknowledges would be costly.

"We don`t have the cops or the money at this point to do that and so that creates a concern," Donovan said. Donovan said in August, the Public Safety Committee, which he chairs, will release a series of recommendations -- one of them, to hire more officers. Meanwhile, Crivello on Monday evening told FOX6 News Officer Baranowski was out of surgery, adding the surgery went well. Below is the complete statement issued by the Milwaukee Police Association on this temporary two-officer per squad policy: