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MPD reports modest Q1 homicide uptick, outlines 2025 violent‑crime plan with Summer/Winter Guardian and SRO focus
Summary
Milwaukee Police Department briefed the Fire and Police Commission on Q1 2025 crime data showing a slight year‑over‑year rise in homicides and presented an amended 2025 violent‑crime reduction plan emphasizing targeted deployments, community outreach (Summer/Winter Guardian), school resource officers and multi‑agency partnerships.
The Milwaukee Police Department told the Fire and Police Commission on May 1 that Q1 2025 violent‑crime trends show a slight increase in homicides compared with Q1 2024 and outlined an amended 2025 violent‑crime reduction plan that emphasizes data‑driven deployments, community outreach and multi‑agency partnerships.
Chief of Staff Heather Huff said homicides rose from 23 in Q1 2024 to 25 in Q1 2025 but remain below 2023 levels (39 in that quarter). Huff said nonfatal shootings and other Part 1 crime measures have shown improvement overall, and stressed that many factors beyond policing affect crime trends: “We react to crime ... That’s our role,” she said.
Huff described a number of programs and changes highlighted in the updated plan. Summer Guardian is a data‑driven seasonal deployment in neighborhoods with concentrated shootings; the department pairs Special Investigations Division (SID) officers with district officers and conducts outreach before and during deployments. Huff said the program emphasizes community engagement over “mean mugging” tactics, and includes park‑and‑walks, door‑to‑door canvassing, and non‑policing assistance (helping residents with errands or repairs) to build trust. The department piloted Winter Guardian targeting carjackings during the holidays; Huff said the three‑week pilot resulted in three arrests and that the department plans to expand winter efforts.
The department also raised school resource officers (SROs) as a violence‑prevention tool. Huff noted a recent instance where an SRO took a student report that led to an investigation — an example she said illustrated why the department views SROs as a prevention and reporting resource. MPD said it is monitoring SRO activity in partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools.
Other elements cited in the plan include the Violence Reduction Public Health and Safety Team (VRFAST), which meets weekly and includes the Department of Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the district attorney’s office and other partners; the Milwaukee Police Athletic League (MPAL), which the department said has engaged more than 1,000 young people since May 2023; and targeted efforts to remove illegal firearms. Huff said officers also carry Narcan, the department distributes Narcan at community events, and a Narcan vending machine was placed in District 2.
Commissioners asked about racial disparities, community perception of safety, outreach to immigrant communities and how the department measures community impact for targeted deployments. Huff said the department provides fair‑and‑impartial training, documents stops and deployments, and conducts pre‑ and post‑deployment community surveys; she said the department is confident procedures reduce the risk of bias during focused deployments but acknowledged broader disparities in the criminal justice system require cross‑system attention.
Commissioners also discussed public perception versus measured crime declines, and the department said it will make greater efforts to publicize case outcomes to balance coverage of incidents with follow‑up outcomes. Several commissioners urged continuing outreach and clearer public reporting of activities and results.
