Milwaukee Police defends Traffic Safety Unit as staffing falls from 2021 levels

The Milwaukee Police Department told the Fire and Police Commission's Testing and Recruiting Committee on May 6, 2025, that the Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) remains a valuable tool for addressing reckless driving and street takeovers even though unit staffing has fallen from roughly 20 officers in 2021 to about 10 officers currently.

Assistant Chief Johnson said the department considers TSU worth maintaining despite the staffing decline because the specialized unit focuses resources on reckless driving and coordinates with districts and other agencies. "The department's position is, yes, it is worth it because 10 officers dedicated to responding to those areas…" Johnson said.

MPD provided several data points to illustrate TSU activity and broader traffic enforcement: a January–June 2024 period included 521 vehicle pursuits across all districts, 313 of which were initiated for reckless driving; TSU officers accounted for 59% of citywide traffic citations in 2024, the department said. Sergeant Gary Cherone, who oversees TSU operations, told commissioners the unit recently completed interviews for a posting and expected to forward recommendations to command by the end of the week.

Why it matters: Department officials said TSU provides focused enforcement, rapid deployment to events such as street takeovers, and education through crime-and-safety meetings and school outreach. The committee was given context that district staffing constraints, the addition of 25 school resource officers and evolving deployment needs have affected the pool of officers available for TSU assignments.

Resource constraints and priorities: TSU leaders told the committee they lack vehicles, parking and other resources to expand the unit to the 30-officer level they said would be ideal. Capt. Schley and Sergeant Cherone emphasized balancing requests for personnel against department-wide needs: timing of requests, impact on other divisions, and available equipment factor into whether TSU can increase staffing. Sergeant Cherone said the unit remains effective even while reduced and that outreach and education remain priorities alongside enforcement.

Community safety and street takeovers: commissioners and MPD staff discussed “street takeovers” — large informal gatherings where drivers perform maneuvers — and the difficulty of predicting or pre-empting events that are organized via private social-media channels. Assistant Chief Johnson said the department has trained TSU members for these events and that rapid deployment is often necessary.

No formal action: the committee received the communication; there was no vote to change TSU staffing levels at this meeting. MPD said it will continue a recruitment and selection process to fill current vacancies and will report back as staffing changes.

Taper: commissioners thanked MPD for the update and asked for continued data on pursuits, TSU staffing and deployment as the department proceeds with interviews and background checks.