As Milwaukee Murders Mount, Police Chief Pledges More Cases Will Be Solved

Milwaukee’s police chief promised his department will solve more of the rising number of homicide cases in the city this year.

Milwaukee police have just announced an increased reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for a high-profile murder from last year — the shooting of 5-year-old Laylah Petersen. The announcement comes amid a surge in homicides this year to more than 50. Police Chief Ed Flynn said investigators are trying to find as many of the alleged killers as possible.

“When your homicides go up 189 percent in four months, your clearances tend to dip a bit,” Flynn said. “So yes, last year we cleared about three-quarters of our homicides. Right now, we’re slightly less than half. But the year is young. The caseload is enormous, and I don’t have any doubt we’ll make progress on that.”

Laylah Petersen’s mother said their family needs to know what happened and why, on the night six months ago, when her daughter was killed.