We are, at times, at the Milwaukee Police Department, and specifically in the Public Information Office, upset at the unfiltered nature of the blogosphere. Veteran journalists of traditional media and established Web sites know that at least one filter ensures that the view being shared is edited for fairness and content.
But we also recognize that blogs allow their authors to share their opinions without a filter, and we are now joining their ranks here on OnMilwaukee.com.
There is no better example of why we are joining this method of information sharing than a story that appeared in the media Tuesday night that questioned security measures and the MPD’s part in protecting festival goers at Summerfest.
The 11-day music festival is one of the many positives in a city where the negatives more often make news.
There will be a uniformed police presence at Summerfest this year. In addition to those uniformed officers we also will have plain clothes officers on the grounds to enforce the laws on underage drinking. We don’t get into force deployment numbers for any of our initiatives or programs because we don’t believe in informing those with criminal intentions exactly how many officers will be out there. There will be officers on the perimeter of the festival grounds throughout the day to handle any traffic incidents or other concerns. In the evening, mounted officers will patrol the Third Ward to ensure that residents and businesses of that area don’t experience any of the negative behavior of years ago. And it was years ago.
Summerfest has a trained and experienced security force to help keep those attending the celebration safe. Summerfest’s Security Director Mike DeMarco, a retired FBI agent, is one of the best at getting it done and we work well with him. The “red shirts” long have been a presence on the grounds and the Milwaukee Police have traditionally been there to augment their efforts.
The public also ought to know that the Milwaukee Police Department has the ability to mobilize a large number of officers in minutes if any large-scale incident were to occur. But that’s not the tradition of Summerfest in recent years. In the last several years, we have seen a safer, more well-behaved crowd than ever before.
So go to Summerfest. Have your children ask Milwaukee Police officers for a baseball card. And enjoy some of the best of summer that Milwaukee has to offer.
Anne E. Schwartz is a veteran award-winning print and broadcast journalist who has worked for more than 25 years in the Milwaukee area writing about public safety issues. She was the reporter who broke the Jeffrey Dahmer story while at the former Milwaukee Journal in 1991 and wrote a book on the case, "The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough: The Story of Milwaukee's Jeffrey Dahmer." She is a nationally-recognized trainer on crisis communications and risk assessment for both the public and private sector.
Anne lives in Milwaukee's Third Ward. She enjoys cooking and takes culinary classes when she travels around the country and the world. She loves riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles with her partner Mark.
