Cooper Park Community Meeting

            The city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County both have very beautiful parks that many people enjoy, especially when warm weather comes around. This of course also includes the lakefront where numerous large amounts of people gather on very warm days and holidays. The Milwaukee County Sheriff is usually responsible for enforcement in the parks along with help from the Milwaukee Police. In the county parks the city police would also help out the sheriff. Most of the people in the city parks are well behaved and just trying to have a good, fun time. Of course, there are a few parks that have problems at times and need extra patrols. Cooper Park, at 8701 W. Chambers Street, is usually a quiet neighborhood area that draws many neighbors. That’s why what happened there not long ago caused concern.

            A community meeting was just held at the Mount Carmel Lutheran Church, 8424 W. Center Street, regarding numerous shots fired at the park several days earlier. There were several officials from the city, county and state to address the concerns of the neighbors. Some in attendance included County Supervisor Felesia Martin, City Alderman Lamont Westmoreland, Wisconsin State Assembly Supreme Moore-Omokunde, with two sheriff inspectors and two MPD officers. The sheriff reports the final count on casings from the park was 62. There were four arrests made and charges are pending at the District Attorneys office. Some people have found casings on their front lawns. People were very concerned and said it sounded like several people were firing shots that night. The sheriff reports they normally start patrolling the parks from mid-May to September. There are a few hotspot parks. Since there is a shortage, overtime is used at times to fill the slots to work.

            People state they have seen an uptick in crime around the park. Some state they are now afraid to be around the park. One lady stated she will not let her teenage daughter be around the park because of her concerns. Another reports there are a large number of picnic tables pushed together which attracts crowds to the area. She asked if maybe they could separate the tables to help out. A corner neighbor states cars are running the four ways stop sign at a high rate of speed. There is also a MPD manpower issue and neighbors asked what the city is doing to help with this issue. The MPD officers reported a class just graduated from the academy and another one started about one month ago. Nash Park is also in the area and one man reports in the past there were cameras put there and that did help. The MPD officers report District 7 has two cameras they use for different events and locations. The sheriff also has a few cameras. The sheriff reports it would cost about 2 million dollars to put cameras in all of the parks.

            I spoke with a lady who states she walks her dog in the park. She continues to say the kid’s area needs to be fixed up. Police and sheriff officials report they will attempt to keep a better eye on the area.