Mid-year Homicides Decrease in 2012 from 2011

Homicides in the city of Milwaukee decreased in the first six months of 2012 compared to the same time period in 2011.

Mid-year data, which is gathered and hand-counted by MPD and the Homicide Review Commission, shows of the 36 victims of homicide in the first six months of 2012, 27 were African-American males. Most were killed by someone who used a firearm. It is a crime that most often involves the young people of our city – 23 of the suspects were ages 17-24; 14 victims fell within that same age range.

“As we get into the heart of summer in Milwaukee, we see that some of the people who live in the poorest and most challenged neighborhoods are shooting each other in the heat of arguments and fights,” Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said.

Milwaukee Police have a strong clearance rate for these crimes; of the 36 total cases in the first six months of 2012, 22 have  been cleared, meaning a suspect has been identified and/or arrested, and/or charged by the district attorney.

By the numbers:

• Jan.-June 2012, 36 homicides; Jan.-June 2011, 40 homicides
• 22 of the 36 have been cleared
• 31 victims were male. Of those, 2 were juveniles (17 or younger)
• Of the 31 male victims, 25 were killed by someone using a firearm; 3 by stabbing and 2 by bodily force
• 27 of the males killed were African-American;  3 were Hispanic; 1 was white
• Of the 5 female victims, 2 were African-American, 2 were Hispanic and 1 was white