Badger Institute: Milwaukee Driving Crime Spike, Criminal Justice System Failing
A new deep dive into Wisconsin crime statistics shows a growing problem with crime in Milwaukee as well as a failing criminal justice system in the rest of the state.
The Badger Institute released four new reports on Tuesday, each looking at a different facet of the criminal justice system.
1) A Tale of Two States: Wisconsin Crime Trends, 2017-2022
2) Toward Swifter Justice: Overburdened Prosecutors & Public Defenders Linked to WI Court Backlogs
4) The Thinning Blue Line: Milwaukee Police Department’s Attrition Crisis
5) Saving Money, Encouraging Work and Improving Safety Through More Rigorous Electronic Monitoring
The headline-grabbing news is what the Badger Institute's Mike Nichols calls a Tale of Two States.
“Milwaukee has 10% of the state’s population, but it has an enormous share of the state’s crime,” Nichols said. “In 2021, Milwaukee had 60% of homicides, 53% of aggravated assaults, 68% of auto thefts. It’s so hard to talk about statewide crime with