‘Surge hiring’ of MPD officers to be focus of special meeting before Judiciary and Legislation Committee

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Common Council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee will hold a special meeting Monday afternoon, July 25th -- where two alderman will present a proposal for more police officers.

Alderman Terry Witkowski, a member of the Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Safety Committee has drafted legislation seeking a referendum in November on whether the city’s tax levy could be increased to provide funding for 150 new Milwaukee police officers over five years.

Alderman Tony Zielinski is co-sponsoring this legislation.

According to Witkowski, under the proposal, the surge force of 150 officers would be funded for five years and then – through retirements and normal attrition – officer staffing levels would return to normal.

“It is not intended to be a permanent staffing increase, and I’m calling it a ‘surge’ for that reason,” Witkowski said in the statement.

According to the statement, the estimated cost of adding 150 new police officers would be $81.7 million over five years, and that total cost is the amount that would be included on the November general election ballot if the measure is approved. Alderman Witkowski said the cost would be $17 million less except that “one state law allows voters to increase spending, while another one penalizes them for doing it.”

For city property owners, the total cost on their tax bill for the surge is estimated to be approximately 47 cents per $1,000 of assessed value each year from 2017 to 2021, or $70.50 on a home assessed at $150,000, Alderman Witkowski said.

According to Witkowski, since 2004, the city of Milwaukee has been under a state-imposed tax levy freeze, and the only way to increase the budget under state law is through a referendum.

To reach the funding amount needed to hire 150 police officers through the city budget process for just one year, the equivalent of three branches of the Milwaukee Public Library would need to be closed. It would require the equivalent of closing the Municipal Court and the Department of City Development, as well as the elimination of half of the operations of the Milwaukee Health Department, Witkowski said.

The cost per newly hired officer, under the proposal, includes salary and benefits, as well as spending to recruit, train, equip and supervise each officer.