What you need to know from last night's forum on violence in Milwaukee

Solving problems with partners. Diversity in the police force. The blue wall of silence. Concealed-carry laws. The city's plans to focus on violence prevention.

All of these topics came before a panel Monday night at the Wisconsin Black Historical Center. More than 100 people came to hear from, and ask questions of, local officials and one outside expert, Michael Scott, who is the director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.

The local panelists were Milwaukee Police Association President Michael Crivello, Office of Violence Prevention Director Reggie Moore and Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn.

The event was coordinated by the Community Coalition for Quality Policing, a group of nearly two dozen civil rights, faith and advocacy organizations.

On problem-oriented policing:

Problem-oriented policing prioritizes officers finding new strategies and solutions outside the criminal justice system to address issues in neighborhoods.

Flynn said the strategy is intrinsic in what the department does. He highlighted examples of partnerships with the Sojourner Family Peace Center, Benedict Center, community liaison officers, Community Prosecution Units and police-resident listening circles, among others.

"We can't do anything alone in the long term," Flynn said.

Scott, the outside expert, was asked about the difference between community policing and problem-oriented policing.

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Community policing originally was about restoring relations in disadvantaged communities, while problem-oriented policing is about "getting along with a purpose" and puts "meat on the bones" of community policing, he said.

He also gave the local example of Milwaukee police working with residents and local businesses to curb scrap metal theft several years ago.

What is the true job or goal of a police officer:

Crivello said officers have the goal to affect citizens' lives for the positive and there should be officers on the beat who take ownership of the neighborhood and create meaningful relationships with residents.

What strategies are in place to decrease the burnout of Milwaukee officers:

"The No. 1 thing that can reduce burnout in police officers is for people to be nice to them," Flynn said, to some chuckles and a murmur from the crowd. 

People project history, biases, their past experiences and those of their friends and families onto officers without knowing the officers as individuals, he said.

"Why is there stress and burnout?" Flynn said. "...They see the victims immediately after a dreadful thing has been done to them." 

On the Office of Violence Prevention's Blueprint plan:

The plan is scheduled to be released in late July and more than 1,500 people have already provided input on it, Moore said. Drafts already are circulating and copies were distributed at Monday's forum, too.

He said those who want to get involved should contact the office by phone (414) 286-8553 or email Reggie.Moore@milwaukee.gov.

On beat cops and diversity:

Beat officers on foot patrol are part of problem-orienting policing because it's important to have cops who know the community, Scott said.

"The No. 1 thing if you want to see more officers of color in our department is encouraging your sons and daughters to take the police test," Flynn said.

The Milwaukee Police Department remains overwhelming male and two-thirds white in a city where whites only account for about 36% of the population, according to a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis of city data.

Do you believe concealed-carry has contributed to an increase in crime?

"Of course it has," Flynn said.

He repeated his position that the law arms habitual offenders — people convicted of three misdemeanors within a five year period — who he says should not be eligible for permits. 

"I've got armed career criminals with concealed-carry permits guarding drug dealers," Flynn said. "We call them human holsters."

Convicted felons are legally barred from carrying a firearm under federal law and felons cannot get a concealed-carry permit under state law.

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Flynn said it is illegal for the department to reveal how many criminal incidents involve permit holders. Wisconsin's law, 2011's Act 35, also explicitly prohibits law enforcement agencies from sorting their records by whether anyone involved had a permit.

Howis the department and union confronting the "blue wall" that exists within its culture?

"Confronting the blue wall, what is the blue wall?" Crivello asked, prompting exclamations from the crowd including one woman who shouted: "Keep it real!"

Flynn defined it as the concern when police see wrongdoing in their ranks, they don't say anything.

"I'm not going to pretend that it is not a problem in the workplace," Flynn said.

He said in any subculture there is a reluctance to violate that culture's norms, which can become a barrier to accountability. Flynn highlighted the department's core value of integrity and the need to discipline those who violate it. 

If you had a magic wand, what is the No. 1 thing you would do to improve community and police engagement?

Crivello said he would make it so officers were "not forced to do something that goes against their moral" compass. He called out the pursuit policy, which he has frequently criticized. 

"I would analyze what we're doing wrong and what could we be doing right...and what could we be doing better," Crivello said, before criticizing "some of the things that have taken place over the last few, eight years."

"In other words, his magic wand would make me disappear," Flynn quipped.

Scott, who spoke next, said it is important to humanize police officers and for police officers to humanize those they serve.

Moore said there is no magic wand, just common sense.

"I've seen time and time again, we let politics and we let other things get in the way of saving lives," Moore said.

"It is unfair to limit the conversation about public safety in this community to law enforcement alone," he added. "My commitment to the community is to say how do we broaden and equalize this conversation. Prevention is not in oppositive to enforcement."

Flynn, taking a broader view of the question, said he wished the U.S. Supreme Court would rule against the redistricting of legislative districts in Wisconsin because "it creates a political system in which the problems of cities become wedge issue instead of problems for America to help solve."

"Guns become a wedge issue, drug sentencing becomes a wedge issue, housing becomes a wedge issue," he said. "As long as every single legislative seat is a safe seat, as long as every Democrat and every Republican has to vote to protect their base, there can never be compromise."