Milwaukee police report 19 fatal crashes so far this year, a drop from 25 this time in 2018

There have been 19 fatal crashes in the city as of Monday, a drop from 25 at the same time last year.

Through the same time in 2017, that number stood at 34, Assistant Police Chief Michael Brunson Sr. told the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force Monday.

"As it relates to fatalities, we are moving in the right direction," Brunson said. "Unfortunately, any fatality is too much."

His report came just short of a week after Milwaukee Police Officer Kou Her was killed when a repeat drunken driver ran a red light at North 60th Street and West Capitol Drive, crashing into Her's vehicle as Her headed home from work. 

The driver, Dante L. James, 34, was charged with homicide by drunken driving, hit-and-run involving death and knowingly driving while revoked causing death, according to court records.

As of May 31, there were 20 serious injury crashes, the same as during that period last year, Brunson said. In that period in 2017, there were 32, he said. 

He also said there have been 129 carjackings as of Monday from 173 this time last year and 149 in the same period in 2017.

Milwaukee police launched a reckless driving reduction initiative May 1 with other law enforcement agencies in the county. Police concentrate enforcement on intersections and streets where speeding and crashes are most prevalent, resulting in 1,181 citations issued. That effort will continue throughout the summer.

Ald. Michael Murphy is spearheading the task force, which is broken down into subcommittees tasked with exploring enforcement and accountability, prevention and education, and engineering solutions.

"I think there's been a lot of thoughtful suggestions and recommendations at this point," Murphy said after the meeting, noting that police are starting to see some success through their enforcement initiatives.

Those are positive changes but the numbers are still too high, he said. The issues will require multiple solutions, he said.  

Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Joy Hammond said carjacking and reckless driving are distinct issues that should be addressed in different ways.

“There’s the adult reckless driving and then the essentially juvenile fleeing is one of our biggest problems in the city and then the carjacking kind of goes with the second subset,” she said.

The task force hopes to offer recommendations toward the end of the summer or early fall.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.