today we're going to talk numbers uh but we're going to keep in mind the fact that we recognize that every single one of these numbers represents a human life both lives that were lost as well as lives that we believe have been saved we're gratified to see the reduction in homicide this year in Milwaukee we're encouraged to see that both our Partnerships with other agencies and the community as well as our focused policing efforts are saving lives I'm committed to the notion that the police are not bystanders when it comes to homicides in Milwaukee I'm convinced that the police can have an effect on the lives and safety of our citizens and if they were smart about it we can reduce crime and turn neighborhoods around I think today Milwaukee is allowed to feel good about itself because this reduction is the work of many people there are many people in Milwaukee that have devoted their lives to making this a safer Place many of them work in government many of them work in community groups many of them are mentors many of them run programs point is that many people are working with the young people of this city to make it a better place and this year they saw a return on their investment we're going to draw some uh specific facts to your attention that are embedded in this information and I'll explain why I think these facts are important this year fewer younger fewer young African-American males lost their lives in homicide the number of black male victims killed between the ages of 15 and 29 decreased by 65% 2007 54 of our 105 homicides were young black men in 2008 that number was 19 homicide takes many forms and not all of its forms are easily affected by police tactics that's why it's important to draw attention to this particular demographic because the reduction of the homicides among young African-American men is a reduction of those homicides that take place on the street in public and are frequently affected by concerns about retaliation over perceived offense drug rivalries or gang rivalries we're also having an impact on gun violence we've been working hard this year to affect the choices that criminals make in public spaces this year the number of victims killed by Firearms decreased by 46% related to that non-fatal shootings were down by 8% and are down by 28% since 2006 six now this past year was a tragic year for our children in 2008 7% of our homicide victims total of five were under the age of one that's compared to 2007 when there was only only one victim so young this year three babies were shaken to death and two others were the victims of child abuse domestic violence related homicides also increased in 2008 up from 12 and 07 to 15 and 08 which is an increase of 21% when it comes to Family Violence everyone has a role to play in preventing homicide that's why it's very important we put I recently recorded a public service message the notion is that people out there in the neighborhood know the families that are at risk they know the families that are undergoing stress I urge them to to call um there are many resources out there available to call to get families help before family stress turns into Family Violence now over the last 29 years the average number of homicides has been 109 the median the midpoint is 107 now I only believe we've turned a corner to will able to produce three or four years in a row of significantly lower homicides than that average but I am committed to the idea that the Milwaukee Police Department can and will continue to save lives by engaging in smart policing strategies that are respectful to the community but assertive when it comes to dealing with the perpetrators of violence now this year we've emphasized the datadriven deployment we promis that we would be more than report takers that this Police Department Department was going to go on the offensive when it came to Crime we've used the comstat methodology that relies on the constant analysis of data and the providing of that data to our Frontline commanders immediately so that they can share it with their officers we've pushed Authority down the chain of command to our district commanders as I promised we've built the efforts of this agency around the district Commander that Commander closest to the problems in the neighborhood and have urged them to Rapid adapt their tactics to the changing conditions that our data identifies we've also urged them to engage in problem solving tactics that make use of all the resources of this city in dealing with the conditions that breed crime we've been grateful for the assistance of the community prosecutors that come to us from the District Attorney's office and the city attorney's office they have been invaluable when it comes to helping us with sound legal advice with engaging in programs that reduce problem houses and a debate nuisance conditions they've also been very good when it comes to targeting resources of the appropriate offenders probation and parole agents are assigned to our districts have done a terrific job targeting U their case loads of probationers and a parole Le and making sure that they adhere to the terms of their condition of the terms and conditions of their parole or probation and when they don't to violate them returning offenders can be a significant part of the violence problem if not properly monitored and we have been grateful to see this effort we also have engaged in ongoing Partnerships with many Community groups that are engaged in mentoring activities for young people provide them literally safe havens and safe places and safe spaces where they can have an opportunity to grow and Thrive out of Harm's Way we've had good Partnerships with our federal Partners the United States attorney's office has done a significant job in upgrading the kinds of uh some of the gun process prosecutions have been upgraded to the federal level they've also been extraordinarily helpful with the FBI and DEA and ATF and taking down a couple of U gangs with long-term investigations that have resulted in significant federal charges we've also used the neighborhood task force extensively we went through this police department and identified nearly 200 officers that were scattered about and specialized units we combine those units under a single command and have deployed the neighborhood task force and assist to the district commanders where on a given evening we can put an extra 50 or 60 officers in a given neighborhood to create a climate more conducive to safety and again I emphasize that for all of the assertive policing that's taken place it has been done in a matter respectful of community concerns I'm as pleased by the 25% reduction in citizen complaints as I am by the increase in arrests and the decrease in crime I'm going to take a moment and introduce a great partner with the police and that would mayor Tom Barrett but I also want to take a moment to say the following I've been in governing a very long time I recognize that when it comes to the allocation of scarce Municipal resources that those allocations are political decisions made in a difficult environment it's not easy to sustain a police department at the Sid it needs to be to be preventive preventive policing takes police officers it takes a commitment to resources and mayor Barrett has been committed over the last several years to sustaining the size of this Police Department so it could be a size that could could in fact engage in prevention thanks to the mayor's leadership and the support of the city council and supporting those resource allocations we have had the resources we've needed to make a positive impact in the lives of other people mayor Barrett