D.A. John Chisholm Addresses East Side Crime Issues at HWTN Monthly Meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 3, 2016

In light of recent crimes including a wave of carjackings on the East Side, Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm has been invited to speak at Historic Water Tower Neighborhood’s next monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 3, 2016.

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Chisholm will also take questions from residents.

The meeting takes place in the Marcia Coles Community Room of Lake Park Pavilion, beneath the Lake Park Bistro. Complimentary cookies and coffee courtesy of Lake Park Bistro will be available starting at 6:45 p.m..

The meeting is free and open to the public. HWTN’s regular board meeting will take place after Chisholm’s appearance.

Police District #1 Capt. Eric Moore and several officers spoke to a packed room last month about an uptick in carjackings and other crimes in the area.

For the Feb. 3 meeting, Chisholm has been asked to:

  • Explain the Milwaukee Gun Violence Reduction Initiative
  • Discuss current problems with the overwhelmed gun court and addition of new gun court and two prosecutors, include expected impact on the speed of gun crime adjudications and the purpose of gun courts as a gun crime deterrent
  • Outline progress on other parts of the initiative (e.g. improved monitoring of people on parole and probation, GPS monitoring of offenders, apprehension strategy for carjackings)
  • Address a residents’ proposal to hire private security and what legal consequences might need to be considered
  • Set forth his strategy for dealing with increasing crime in the neighborhood and any ideas as to how we can contribute to ensuring safety in our community and the successful prosecution of violent gun crimes

Also coming up at the meeting will be a discussion on concerns over large WE Energies electric poles being installed on residential streets. Details on that issue, the full meeting agenda and minutes and summaries from the last two HWTN meetings are available here.

According to Chisholm’s biography:

John T. Chisholm is the District Attorney of Milwaukee County. His office handles criminal cases for the State of Wisconsin in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

As District Attorney, John organizes his office to work closely with neighborhoods through his nationally recognized Community Prosecution program. He designed a Child Protection Advocacy Unit to better serve child victims, formed a Public Integrity Unit to focus on public corruption matters and a Witness Protection Unit to thwart attempts to intimidate victims and witnesses of crime. Specialized units focus on violent firearm and sexual assault offenders. He helped start the drug treatment court and participated in Milwaukee County’s selection as a seed site for the National Institute of Corrections’ Evidence Based Decision Making framework.

John is an Army Veteran and worked with the Veterans’ Administration and collaborative partners to establish resources for veterans who encounter the criminal justice system in Milwaukee County, resulting in the opening of the Veterans Treatment Initiative and Treatment Court.

John is past chair of the Milwaukee County Community Justice Council and past chair of the Washington DC based Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. He sits on numerous boards including the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, Safe & Sound, and the Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area board.

John is a graduate of Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Here is information on the District Attorney’s office from its website:

The District Attorney of Milwaukee County is assisted directly by five deputy district attorneys. In addition, the legal staff is composed of approximately 125 assistant district attorneys, all of whom represent the State of Wisconsin in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, generally in connection with criminal cases. Within the office, there are a number of specialized units for offenses involving homicides, drug violations, sexual assaults, white collar crimes, domestic violence, and consumer fraud. There are also units which prosecute felonies, misdemeanors, and offenses involving juveniles.

Mission Statement: The mission of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is to promote public peace and safety by just and vigorous prosecution; to seek and to do impartial justice by ensuring that the guilty are punished and the innocent go free; to protect the health and welfare of children who are victims of child abuse and neglect; and to safeguard the rule of law and to promote citizens’ participation in law enforcement by treating all persons who come in contact with the criminal justice system with fairness, dignity, and respect.