CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The ProblemCrime and the Singular Story
Mass Incarceration
The United States locks up more people than any other country. One out of every one hundred people are incarcerated. Prison is now no longer an experience that is distant and unfamiliar, it is something that is frequently encountered. Our prison systems have grown since the 1970s, the incarceration rate in 1972 was quadrupled in 2012. Additionally, since 1972, the three levels of U.S. government expanded the U.S. prison population by a whopping 1.9 million. Today, the American criminal justice system contains more than 2.3 million people. That means that the penal system has a population that is comparable to the size of Chicago. Similarly, the biggest problem facing Milwaukee’s North side is the mass incarceration of its black male population. From 1990 to 2012, 26,222 black males from Milwaukee County were incarcerated. One-third of these men incarcerated from Milwaukee County had only non-violent offenses, and 40% of the incarcerated African American men from Milwaukee County had drug offenses. This problem is reinforced by the fact that it costs $512,000 a day to incarcerate African American men from Milwaukee County in state prison, which means that Wisconsin allocates more state tax dollars to the Department of Corrections than to the University of Wisconsin school system. When these men are released, they face barriers that prevent them from rejoining society such as lack of access to fair housing, jobs, and transportation. The challenges of re-entry and creating a home after incarceration are many. Those re-entering society are often stigmatized for being an offender, and finding a home can be extremely difficult. Without a job or source of income and a successful history of paying rent, it is difficult to find a place to call home, which is an essential step to healing and creating a new life. This problem is compounded by the high eviction rates in Milwaukee’s North side. How significant have these changes been to eradicate the underlying issues that sparked the black community’s outrage that turned into expressions of anger and violence? - Mr. Roy Evans Homicides
The United States is nearly the safest that it has been in 50 years. You would not realize this if you watch local news, which still lead with the single story sensationalizing violent offenses conducted by young black men. Homicide rates around the country have been steadily declining over the past few decades, and Milwaukee had about a 14 percent decline in homicides for 2018, the third consecutive yearly drop in killings in the city and the lowest total since 2014. This reduction in homicide has added three-quarters of a year to the life expectancy of African-American men. The benefits of lower crime rates extend beyond the justice system to public health and education. While crime rates and homicides have been declining over the past few decades, it has been at a high cost, especially to young black men. Patrick Sharkey, author of Uneasy Peace, shows lower crime and homicide rates were linked to an increase in brutal policing and record levels of incarceration. Community members, neighborhood activists, and non-profit organizations have played a crucial role in creating healthier and safer streets. |
The SolutionGrassroots Resistance: How is the Community Fighting Back?
Peace Garden Project MKE
After one of the most violent summers in Milwaukee’s history, street memorials consisting of empty liquor bottles, deflated balloons, and cigar wrappers were scattered throughout the streets. In response, Peace Garden Project MKE is a project that strives to change the landscape of Milwaukee. In September 2015, Ms. Camille Mays, a resident of Sherman Park, launched Peace Garden Project MKE after the shooting death of Shavonta Johnson. This project replaces the makeshift memorials with flowers to beautify the neighborhood, which the family members of the victims maintain after installation. The City of Milwaukee has an ordinance that curbside memorials be removed within 30 days of a complaint, and if no complaint is called in, some stay up to a multitude of years, which community members cite as a cause of declining property value of adjacent homes. However, Ms. Mays has heard stories from city workers that request police escorts when removing curbside memorials because of the emotional attachment from the community. Ms. Mays has also met backlash to the Peace Garden Project. Some have said that these memorials represent the killing of thugs and drug dealers. However, Ms. Mays believes in respecting the families involved, and hopes to improve curbside appeal of Sherman Park. She also hopes that the community will band together to create a beautiful landscape that transforms the view of the city. For more on Peace Garden Project MKE, go to: https://www.facebook.com/peacegardenprojectMke/ For more on Ms. Camille Mays, go to: http://blcfieldschool2017.weebly.com/camille-mays.html Community Policing/Block Watches
Community block watches have become the natural and popular vehicle for developing an element of community cohesion in the otherwise disorganized neighborhood. Dedicated residents have taken it upon themselves to police the streets. They are taking ownership of their streets and reaching out to other residents who will actively participate in the process. Their missions are to unite residents, youth, law enforcement and community resources to build safe and empowered neighborhoods. Community watch groups are all about educating the residents, cleaning up the neighborhood, attracting the right homeowner, and pushing out the crime/problem residents. These groups are striving to educate residents while at the same time stimulating individual growth and development. This change or transformation is grounded in local neighborhood life and priorities, but incorporates resources from outside the neighborhood. Each day crime and the fear of crime threatens communities, but block watches instill a greater sense of security and reduce the fear of crime in the community. The residents that live in an area know the needs of the area better than anyone, and by communicating with each other and working together as a team, the community can make a difference. Caring
How the community members are addressing the issue of crime and safety in Sherman Park is not top-down. The top-down perspective is how academics and authorities usually think about crime and safety, while the bottom-up or grassroots perspective is much more of an affective strategy. Community members achieve change through community networks and communication between homeowners and tenants. For more on caring, go to: http://blcfieldschool2017.weebly.com/sherman-park-community--the-ethics-of-caring.html Ethics of Caring podcast by Lena Jensen
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Safety in Sherman Park
In the Field School, we have discovered disjunctures in the way that top-down academics and authorities are talking about the problem of safety compared to the way that bottom-up community members and grassroots organizers are talking about it.
For a study on the disjuncture between top-down and bottom-up safety in Sherman Park, go to: http://blcfieldschool2017.weebly.com/conflicting-perspectives-on-safety.html
In the Field School, we have discovered disjunctures in the way that top-down academics and authorities are talking about the problem of safety compared to the way that bottom-up community members and grassroots organizers are talking about it.
For a study on the disjuncture between top-down and bottom-up safety in Sherman Park, go to: http://blcfieldschool2017.weebly.com/conflicting-perspectives-on-safety.html
For Further Reading:
“#closeMSDF.” Accessed April 30, 2019. https://closemsdf.org/.
Evans, Roy. “Op Ed: Where’s the Change in Sherman Park?” Urban Milwaukee. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/08/27/op-ed-wheres-the-change-in-sherman-park/.
“MILWAUKEE 53206.” Milwaukee 53206. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.milwaukee53206.com/.
National, ACLU. “New Data Reveals Milwaukee Police Stops Are About Race and Ethnicity.” Medium (blog), February 23, 2018. https://medium.com/aclu/new-data-reveals-milwaukee-police-stops-are-about-race-and-ethnicity-326dd4228d33.
“Open Letter to Red Cross for Refusing to Help Some Milwaukee Residents.” The Milwaukee Independent (blog), December 29, 2017. http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/open-letter-red-cross-refusing-help-milwaukee-residents/.
Pawasarat, John, and Lois M Quinn. “Wisconsin’s Mass Incarceration of African American Males: Workforce Challenges for 2013,” 2013, 34.
“Precious Lives | 1 Place. 2 Years. 100 Stories about Young People and Gun Violence.” Accessed April 30, 2019. http://preciouslivesproject.org/.
“Program.” urban-underground. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.urbanunderground.org/untitled-cc16.
“Reggie Jackson: Evidence of Things Unknown.” The Milwaukee Independent (blog), August 15, 2016. http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/reggie-jackson-evidence-of-things-unknown/.
“Trust Damaged between Milwaukee Police and Community, Department of Justice Draft Report Says.” Accessed April 30, 2019. http://projects.jsonline.com/news/2017/8/30/trust-damaged-between-milwaukee-police-department-of-justice-draft-report-says.html.
Reginald Jackson, "The Origins of Wisconsin's Prison Industrial Complex," Milwaukee Independent, March 1, 2018.
Sharkey, Patrick. 2018. Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, The Renewal of City Life, And The Next War On Violence
“#closeMSDF.” Accessed April 30, 2019. https://closemsdf.org/.
Evans, Roy. “Op Ed: Where’s the Change in Sherman Park?” Urban Milwaukee. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2017/08/27/op-ed-wheres-the-change-in-sherman-park/.
“MILWAUKEE 53206.” Milwaukee 53206. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.milwaukee53206.com/.
National, ACLU. “New Data Reveals Milwaukee Police Stops Are About Race and Ethnicity.” Medium (blog), February 23, 2018. https://medium.com/aclu/new-data-reveals-milwaukee-police-stops-are-about-race-and-ethnicity-326dd4228d33.
“Open Letter to Red Cross for Refusing to Help Some Milwaukee Residents.” The Milwaukee Independent (blog), December 29, 2017. http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/open-letter-red-cross-refusing-help-milwaukee-residents/.
Pawasarat, John, and Lois M Quinn. “Wisconsin’s Mass Incarceration of African American Males: Workforce Challenges for 2013,” 2013, 34.
“Precious Lives | 1 Place. 2 Years. 100 Stories about Young People and Gun Violence.” Accessed April 30, 2019. http://preciouslivesproject.org/.
“Program.” urban-underground. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.urbanunderground.org/untitled-cc16.
“Reggie Jackson: Evidence of Things Unknown.” The Milwaukee Independent (blog), August 15, 2016. http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/featured/reggie-jackson-evidence-of-things-unknown/.
“Trust Damaged between Milwaukee Police and Community, Department of Justice Draft Report Says.” Accessed April 30, 2019. http://projects.jsonline.com/news/2017/8/30/trust-damaged-between-milwaukee-police-department-of-justice-draft-report-says.html.
Reginald Jackson, "The Origins of Wisconsin's Prison Industrial Complex," Milwaukee Independent, March 1, 2018.
Sharkey, Patrick. 2018. Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, The Renewal of City Life, And The Next War On Violence
Created by Bella Biwer