Impact of Reductions in Poverty-Fighting Increasingly Affecting Policing, Flynn Says

“Think big, folks,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn urged a full-house audience in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall on Tuesday. And Flynn did that himself during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program, taking a broad view of the role of police in protecting and enhancing the quality of life of people and communities in the city.

Flynn’s perspective focused frequently on how police have become the ones dealing with a gamut of social problems, as well as criminal problems, as public investment in programs aimed at helping people, especially those in poverty, have declined across the United States.

Over the last 25 years, Flynn said, “we have seen a consistent and unrelenting disinvestment in the social network, OK?” He gave mental health as an example: “Right now, the response of our society to issues of mental health is the criminal justice system. I’ve seen this for years and it’s becoming more so. . . . If you have a mental health problem, we can guarantee you a jail cell.” He said substance abuse problems are another example. “What is our social network dealing with substance abuse? Jail.”

Flynn, who is in his sixth year as Milwaukee’s police chief, said, “I’ve got 1,800 men and women out there who are being asked to deal with virtually every single social problem that presents as an inconvenience, discomfort or issue. . . . It is this one group that right now has the weight of every single social problem on it. And maybe we should start asking ourselves, do we need to double back and see what else we’re doing?”

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Young, Educated Users Fueling a Surge in Narcotics Use, Drug Prosecutor Says

Generational amnesia – that’s the term Bridget Brennan uses to describe one of the causes of the recent rise of heroin use. It is as if today’s culture has no memory of the devastating toll the drug took on those who used it a generation ago.

And who is using the highly addictive narcotic today? In many cases, it is educated younger people living in middle class or blue collar suburbs, Brennan said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Thursday.

Brennan is a prominent figure in the fight against heroin and other narcotics. She doesn’t take on those individual users. Rather she aims for those at or near the top of the pyramid as she put it, of illegal narcotics trafficking. A Milwaukee native, she has been the special narcotics prosecutor for the city of New York since 1998. Her office averages 3,000 indictments a year, many against those leading or working in drug trafficking networks. She has worked with law enforcement at many levels and across international boundaries.

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Norquist Lets Zingers Fly in Eckstein Hall Program

“I wish you wouldn’t hold back,” Mike Gousha told former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist at the end of an hour-long “On the Issues” conversation at Eckstein Hall on Feb. 5. That got a big laugh from the audience of about 200 because Norquist held back little in giving zinger-filled opinions on a range of subjects.

In nearly four terms as mayor, from 1988 through 2003, Norquist was known for speaking his mind. If anything, he is even more willing to speak out now that he’s a decade removed from that office. A few examples from his session with Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy:

On Waukesha’s request to get access to Lake Michigan for its water supply: Given the way some Waukesha officials have treated issues of importance to the City of Milwaukee, Norquist said, “If I were one of the elected officials, I’d be tempted to say, ‘you want our water, that’s too bad, you can dry up and blow away.’ ”

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