Finance committee examines Milwaukee Police Departmentproposed 2026 budget amid debate over 'paper' positions, SROs and AI

Alderman Marina Dimitryevich, chair of the Milwaukee Common CouncilFinance & Personnel Committee, opened the Oct. 9 hearing on the mayorproposed 2026 budget for the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), noting the committee would review the departmentrequest and hear from MPD leadership and budget staff. The department presented overall reductions in authorized positions and several targeted program changes, then answered detailed questions from alderpersons about recruitment, community policing and new technologies.

The mayorproposed MPD budget reduces total authorized positions and lowers overall payroll spending while increasing some operating and technology spending, MPD and City budget staff said. "Overall positions authorized went down 142," Tyler Callegaro, budget analyst, told the committee, and the budgetin totality was reduced by about $3.8 million. Callegaro said the proposal also uses a two-year average for buyouts, reduces long-standing unfunded position authority, and shifts some staffing emphasis from community service officers to police aides.

Why it matters: The package is largely an accounting and reallocation of position authority and operating resources rather than an immediate reduction in on-the-street sworn officers, MPD leaders and budget staff told the committee. Still, alderpersons pressed for detail on whether cuts affect service delivery and on the departmentapproach to civilianizing some functions and using new technologies.

Budget specifics and staffing changes MPD budget staff said the proposal removed 192 longstanding, unfunded positions from the departmentordinance and reduced the total authorized headcount by roughly 142 compared with the adopted 2025 ordinance. Callegaro said salaries and wages would fall by roughly $4.7 million compared with the 2025 adopted level; revenue is projected to rise by about $9.92 million driven largely by charges for services.

The department is reducing the position authority for community service officers (CSOs) from 30 to 5 (the level at which the department is staffed today) while increasing the number of police aides by roughly 30. "Police aids, in general, are a good pathway to police officers," said an MPD representative; the department said it has been using police-aid positions…