After 11 years of closely monitoring the local system, working with many outstanding professionals in that system, and with citizens trying so hard to bring about positive change, what I see as our problems are not necessarily unique to Milwaukee, but somehow they seem to converge here with a retributive vengeance. We're pretty conservative and complacent. Even the majority of those who are really hurting don't want to risk tipping the equilibrium. Elected officials are particularly risk-adverse. The problem is compounded by our inability to agree on which evidence can be submitted to prove effectiveness.
Unrealistic expectations expect to reverse a lifetime of experience and socialization swiftly.
The public doesn't realize how little they really know about crime-whose doing it or what's happening to those involved. Their sources are limited and nearly indistinguishable. The media serves up the gruesome and the tragic and tops it off with the simplistic and the dramatic. News and entertainment thus merged, create widespread belief about crime and justice. The media has the power to distort reality and create artificial norms, behaviors and even boundaries.