Milwaukee, Wis. – Attorney General Brad Schimel continued his 72-county statewide tour to meet with local law enforcement and elected officials this week with stops in Menominee and Milwaukee counties on Monday, August 20 and Tuesday, August 21, respectively.
“Over the last two days I met with law enforcement officials from our state’s most-populous county and least-populous county” said Attorney General Schimel. “While these two counties face vastly different public safety challenges, DOJ is committed to providing public safety resources in every community to make Wisconsin a safer place to live and raise a family.”
“DOJ is one of our trusted system partners,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales. “I’d like to thank the Attorney General for his continued assistance and support, and I look forward to our agencies continuing to work together.”
Attorney General Schimel and the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership team is meeting with law enforcement and local officials in every county to discuss public safety concerns specific to each county. The challenges faced by law enforcement leaders and the criminal justice system differ from county to county, even in neighboring communities, making it critical for DOJ to be responsive to public safety needs at the local level. DOJ is a public safety partner for local communities, and these meetings aim to discover what resources and efforts DOJ can provide to make Wisconsin safer and stronger.
DOJ financially supports a number of programs to help public safety officials keep the county safe.
This year Menominee County received $98,148 for a Treatment Alternatives and Diversion program which will be used for pre- or post-charged, low-risk defendants who qualify and are referred into the treatment alternative program. The program will provide collaboration, treatment and wraparound recovery services for defendants who are in need of alcohol and substance abuse treatment among other treatment programs including wraparound recovery planning.
The Wisconsin Native American Drug and Gang Initiative (NADGI), an organization that brings together tribal law enforcement agencies with Wisconsin DOJ’s Division of Criminal Investigation to fight illegal drug and gang activities on the reservations and includes the Menominee Tribe received more than $64,012 from U.S. DOJ and Wisconsin DOJ this year to help investigate drug distribution crimes in the area. This drug task force and the county has also received nearly $80, since 2015 to fight heroin and methamphetamine, and funding will be available through 2018.
In 2018, Milwaukee County received $380,981 to enhance the county’s alcohol and drug courts, which provide an alternative to incarceration for those struggling with addiction.
Milwaukee County also received $75,000 from DOJ and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a pilot site in the CDC’s Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Program. This project establishes sustainable inter-agency partnership to review drug overdose fatalities in Milwaukee County to better understand the context of overdoses and take immediate action to prevent future overdose deaths by developing and implementing intervention and prevention strategies and proposing or revising applicable policies.
Milwaukee County has also received $80,000 to develop a program designed to assist jail inmates to successfully reenter society. In addition to reducing recidivism, this program will ensure individuals have a plan for housing, health care, employment, job training, and other services, as needed, so they can successfully reintegrate and become part of the community upon release.
Multiple organizations throughout Milwaukee County also received $858,430 through the Second Chance Act Smart Reentry program through the U.S. and Wisconsin Departments of Justice, including Employ Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee, Alma Center, Community Advocates, and the medical College of Wisconsin The program helps address the significant challenges that arise after offenders are reintroduced to the community after imprisonment.
In 2017, the Milwaukee Police Department received $126,714 to fund beat patrol programs that support community policing and community engagement activities. The grant was renewed again in 2018 for $150,000.
Since 2015 to date, Shawano County, which serves Menominee County, has received $258,036 for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. Menomonee County has also received $148,424 in Sexual Assault Victim Services (SAVS) grants since 2015. In Milwaukee County, organizations have received more than $9 million in VOCA grants and $674,527 in SAVS grants since 2015.
To see what other counties the Attorney General has visited, and where he will going next, go to: https://www.doj.state.wi.us/ag-roundtable-map.
