Milwaukee Police, Fire Commission Will Release Resident Satisfaction Survey

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission will meet Thursday night to review the results of a survey on citizens’ satisfaction with the city’s police department.

The survey comes at a time when some of the city’s minority residents have been taking to the streets to protest the way their communities are policed.

The survey, conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will be be released publicly after the meeting.

The Wisconsin American Civil Liberties Union released a similar survey this week of 800 Milwaukee residents, most between the ages of 18 to 24. It found 46 percent of those who see police in their neighborhoods everyday say the don’t feel safer. Almost one-third of respondents who have been stopped by police say they wouldn’t call the police to report a crime.

ACLU director Chris Ahmuty said those results raise concerns about the city’s current policing strategy.

“For our sample, albeit skewed young, people are ambivalent about talking with, reporting crimes (to) or working with the police,” said Ahmuty.

Last month, the Milwaukee Common Council proposed a list of policing reforms that included the use of body cameras to record police interactions.