Wisconsin Right Now

"During Roll Calls…Please inspect our members and remind them the Thin Blue Line is PROHIBITED!" - Milwaukee Police Capt. Carolyn Birch A Milwaukee Police Captain has instructed District 7 supervisors to "inspect" police officers during roll calls for thin blue line imagery, such as on bracelets. It comes as homicide has skyrocketed 87% this year so far, on the heels of two record years in a row. The email dated Monday, April 11, 2022, at 3:05 p.m., is causing a stir inside the department. It was sent by District 7 Capt. Carolyn A. Birch to District 7 Supervisors. However, Birch is clearly following the direction of Chief Jeffrey Norman who has yet to articulate a coherent crimefighting strategy but has taken time to publicly outline his war against the thin blue line. It all started because a photo captured an officer wearing a thin blue line bracelet, says the email, obtained by Wisconsin Right Now from a source. The Birch email is titled, “Thin Blue...

At a time of record homicide numbers, the Milwaukee police chief is upset about the "thin blue line" being on signs for a religious service meant to give officers comfort. Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has ordered "blue line chapel" signs taken down from district stations because he thinks they're offensive. The signs, which contain a thin blue line, advertised a religious service for police officers. A source gave us a social media post that read, “Milwaukee Police Chief Norman yesterday ordered the removal of the ‘Blue Line Chapel’ signs advertising our members faith based support group church service from Milwaukee Police Facilities, citing it is ‘offensive.’ I ask for your prayers in this clear spiritual warfare attack on our police officers.” It’s not clear who wrote that post, but we asked Andrew Wagner, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, about the claims and he said, "Yes, I heard about it, and it is true." We asked...

Milwaukee mass murder continues city's homicide crisis. Five people were found shot execution-style in a house in Milwaukee along North 21st Street, sources told Wisconsin Right Now. The call came in just before 3:30 p.m. on January 23, 2022. Milwaukee police found five bodies, some in the upstairs of the home and some in the basement, the sources said. It's unclear how long the bodies were there. The home is located in the 2500 block of North 21st St. The police were responding to a welfare check. The bodies were of adults, all different ages, sources said. Homicide was already up 13% in Milwaukee, with nine homicides recorded in 2022, coming on the heels of two record-setting years, according to the city's crime dashboard. This is a developing story, and police have not put out an official statement yet. Wisconsin Right Now has asked MPD for comment.

"Our detective was released from the hospital today," police said, revealing the Milwaukee detective shooting suspect was charged. Criminal charges have been filed against the suspected gunman, Keasean Ellis-Brown, in the shooting of an off-duty detective who was wounded while trying to stop a carjacking last week . The criminal complaint describes how the wounded and heroic detective, who had intervened to protect a woman from Ellis-Brown, had the presence of mind to remember and document the suspects' license plate despite being shot multiple times. Two other suspects were charged with other serious offenses relating to the incident. WRN previously broke the story that the suspected shooter, Keasean Ellis-Brown, was out on $1,000 bail for another very serious felony case in Milwaukee County. Read about that here . The criminal complaint confirms that police believe Ellis-Brown was the shooter, and the other two suspects were in the car. The complaint reveals ...

Keasean Ellis-Brown is the alleged shooter of a Milwaukee police detective in the Third Ward, and we've learned he was out on $1,000 bail for another very serious felony case in Milwaukee County. He's currently at large. Police have not released the suspect's name, but Wisconsin Right Now has learned from multiple sources that Keasean J. Ellis-Brown, who is also known as Keasean Brown, is the suspect being sought for allegedly shooting the detective , who was in stable condition after being shot twice while disrupting a carjacking and robbery. However, it turns out that Keasean Ellis-Brown was freed on $1,000 bail in another serious case, continuing the pattern that gained national attention when it was revealed that Darrell Brooks , the Waukesha parade massacre suspect, was also out on $1,000 and $500 bail for previous felony cases. At that time, District Attorney John Chisholm tried to paint the bail amount as an aberration, but we have written story-after-story of p...

Multiple sources tell Wisconsin Right Now that an off-duty Milwaukee police officer was shot downtown while off duty. The officer, a detective, was trying to stop a carjacking, sources say. At 3 p.m., we heard Milwaukee police were pursuing a possible suspect vehicle, which was traveling more than 90 miles per hour near Vliet Street. We heard the suspect was in a vehicle stolen recently in Menomonee Falls, and that the high-speed pursuit may have turned into a foot chase. Two suspects are in custody, we were told at 3:10 p.m. A third fled on foot and is being sought. We are hearing the shooting occurred at Water and Buffalo streets on January 13, 2022 in the city's Third Ward. The details are still coming in. We have the detective's name, but we aren't printing it without official MPD release because family may not be notified. He was taken to Froedtert hospital. One of our sources said that, preliminarily, the suspect might have been involved in a carjacking downtow...

You think things are crazy on Water Street in downtown Milwaukee? Check out this video. Wisconsin Right Now's Jim Piwowarczyk captured video on Friday, June 18, 2021, of Milwaukee police chasing a man down the middle of Water Street and then taking him into custody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSah8TnrYs Milwaukee Police Foot Chase Video This video shows: How dangerous and chaotic things have gotten in Milwaukee's downtown bar district. The complete failure of city leaders to get a handle on it. How dangerous the jobs of police are, and how much we ask them. How the media aren't telling you what's really going on. There was not a word of this on any station. A source told us the Milwaukee Police foot chase started because police were spat on. We have a request to MPD for more details. This is all part of our mission to tell you the news the media won't. Read our fuller account with more videos here .

We reject the notion - adopted by Evers and Republicans in the state Legislature - that police need major reforming. This hoax narrative falsely presumes that there's a systemic problem with our Police Departments. There's not. There have been only 3 fatal police shootings in Wisconsin this year, all of armed people, none black. Meanwhile, there are many black homicide victims, but the governor isn't acting on that. When he signed a raft of window-dressing, do-nothing "police reform" measures this week, Gov. Tony Evers said this: "The people of Wisconsin are demanding systemic changes and reform in our state." Wrong. No, they're not. At least not the kind of "reform" he's talking about. This was an attempt to pander to BLM that will do nothing to improve black lives. If Evers really cared about black lives, he'd focus on the climate that produces black-on-black homicide in the City of Milwaukee and elsewhere, maybe heading...

The Milwaukee Police Association's president says city leaders are doing "NOTHING" about exploding crime, and he called on them to hire more officers to replenish the ranks of those lost to retirement amid plunging morale caused in part by the city leaders' anti-police rhetoric. “Today is a sad day for Milwaukee. What is sad is the fact that crime in Milwaukee is on the rise," Dale Bormann Jr. wrote in a news release. For a second weekend in a row, Water Street “has been out of control. There have been fights, there have been shootings, there have been people out there who just don’t care about others," he wrote. "The businesses are not getting what they deserve. And that needs to stop NOW! It’s time for the City and Department to stand up to those who are causing destruction in this city.  It’s time for the Leaders of this City to do their jobs instead of sitting on their hands, not doing a thing to protect the citizens of Milwaukee. HIRE MORE OF...

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission released a statement on July 9, 2021, confirming that Alfonso Morales "will be reinstated as Chief of Police" on July 12. However, later in the afternoon the commission and Morales agreed to extend the reinstatement date to Thursday, July 15, 2021. That's when three new members will join the Commission. It theoretically gives both sides yet another chance to reach a last-minute deal. A judge ordered Morales's reinstatement as Milwaukee police chief, but the date was initially pushed back to July 12 to give the city and chief a chance to reach a financial settlement instead. However, the FPC statement seems to confirm what Morales's attorney, Frank Gimbel, previously told news reporters this week: That Morales is coming back to the job because negotiations failed. The chief's return will cap an extraordinary year in which the FPC demoted him without due process. He then retired and challenged the demotion in court,...

There was a day in Milwaukee when injuries to police officers were treated seriously. That day appears to have passed. Here's the latest in the Milwaukee police explosives case: Two of the three men who are accused of throwing a powerful explosive at two Milwaukee police officers on Water Street, injuring them, were given signature bonds by two different Milwaukee court commissioners, David Sweet and Rosa Barillas. A third man accused of throwing an explosive in another incident not involving police was also given a signature bond, Wisconsin Right Now has learned. Signature bonds mean that a person can walk out of the jail without putting up any cash. Their signature is all that's needed to be released. It's part of a national trend toward "bail reform." There was a day in Milwaukee when injuries to police officers were treated more seriously. That day appears to have passed. According to a Milwaukee police press release, on July, 5, 2021, at approximately ...