Is Water Street Safe? Chief Jeffrey Norman Weighs In.

Water Street is one of Milwaukee’s prime spots especially for nightlife. With two universities nearby, this area is a popular attraction for college students. It has some of Milwaukee’s largest and oldest nightlife districts for over a century. Due to recent shootings, safety is a common concern for many of those who enjoy Water Street.

Juneau town is the downtown area where the entertainment district is. Crime has increased in many serious crime categories in Juneau town this year to date, according to the city’s crime dashboard. From 2021 to 2022, non-fatal shootings rose 83% (from 12 to 2022). Carjackings, robberies, motor vehicle thefts, and aggravated assaults increased. Overall crimes rose from 642 to 949, a 48% increase.

Chief Jeffrey B. Norman has been working for the Milwaukee Police Department as an officer for over 25 years. Norman has served in Districts one and two. He was sworn in as the Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department Nov. 15, 2021.  He granted Media Milwaukee an interview about crime in the Water Street area in late 2022.

“We all have a responsibility of safety. We have people coming into the downtown area carrying guns. I know you have a right to have that, but there’s a responsibility that’s attached to that,” Norman said to Media Milwaukee.

“We’ve used guns way too frequently this year and past year to resolve their differences, and there is a responsibility for those around individuals to take on the responsibility to mediate; to be that intervener; to say, ‘Is it that serious?’; to resolve this dispute when there’s an argument on the dance floor and there’s a situation that you can’t get into at a particular function that you wanna use a firearm to resolve.”

Chief Norman refused to answer whether or not there is enough funding for Milwaukee Police in the area. 

“We are working with other districts to ensure we have enough police presence,” Chief Norman said. “We are giving enough attention to the downtown area.”

District one has increased its police presence on the weekend nights by utilizing other districts and the State Patrol, according to Norman. They have added more lighting, use of horses and blocking off the streets on weekends. Along with the help of other districts, they have also been receiving help from the State Patrol, he said.

On May 13, 2022, there were three shootings and two of them happened on Water St. Three people were shot in the Deer District after a Bucks game. Less than an hour and a half later, one person was injured in a shooting on Water St. Only 40 minutes after 17 people were shot on Water Street in a mass shooting. 

“After we had the incident back in May, we’ve been pretty good in regards to keeping this particular type of behavior from being repeated,” Norman stated. 

On Sept. 3, 2022, a man fled police in a car chase that ended on Water Street outside of Trinity Three Irish Pubs after his car broke down. He exited his car and began shooting at police. One woman was shot. 

“It’s better to have the businesses prepared in ensuring they have everything they can to help with the safety rather than us having an over-patrolled presence because sometimes that unfortunately aggravates situations,” Chief Norman explained. 

We asked people who work at local businesses what solutions they want.

“I think having police around at all times would be the most helpful or even visible so that people are less likely to make bad decisions but obviously you can’t control what other people do and the cops are usually there if we have a problem inside,” said Cole Brennan, who has been a bouncer at Brothers for a year and three months. “It would be nice if they were always readily available and closer so they can arrive sooner rather than being down the street.” 

Law enforcement with district one has regular meetings with businesses in the Entertainment District and elected officials to collaborate and have a plan for when emergencies happen. 

“At times I’ve worried about my safety but we now monitor everything really well and we can tell who is coming in and out of the building,” said Brennan. “We use wands to track metal. Being outside as a staff member can be scary because you don’t know what you’re going to get and don’t know who’s outside.”

Several bars on Water Street have increased their security by using more cameras and devices to detect weapons to ensure no one who enters the bar is going to put anyone in danger. 

Johnny Baumler has been working at Trinity and the Harp as a bouncer for over a year. 

“I’ve worked during all of the shootings, we get everyone inside and close our doors to keep customers safe. When we hear there’s a shooting we’ll get everyone inside, close our doors and we try to get everyone to the back, when we get the all clear we shut everything down,” said Baumler. “Our Priority is to keep everyone safe.” 

With dozens of bars on the street, there are large groups of people and long lines at most places. The streets are packed every weekend. 

“Be aware, don’t put your trust in random people, stay by your friends and people you know. Don’t walk home by yourself and  be careful who you are accepting drinks from,” Baumler explained, “This is all a part of nightlife and is what people should follow anywhere.”

“The cops block off streets on weekends and since there are thousands of intoxicated people. This helps a lot to keep people safe. They also increased  their police presence a lot over the weekends after the first shooting that occurred during the Bucks game,” according to Baumler.

Most crime occurs outside the bars and is brought to Water St. Food trucks attract groups to gather around the area outside next to the bars. 

“A lot of times there are young people who aren’t old enough to get into the bars and need something to do that are involved in shootings,” explained Milwaukee Police Spokesman Efrain Cornejo. “We have enforced curfews and are working with the community to come up with alternatives kids can do to reduce this behavior.” 

Media Milwaukee also spoke to students and former students.

“I worry about my own safety walking around water street and coming from my house,” said Cam Davis, a 22-year-old UW-Milwaukee alum. “I would always suggest anyone to Uber instead of walking to Water Street because that’s where stuff happens; it’s always on the street.” 

After shootings happened over the summer, people like Davis have had more concern for their safety when they decide to go out on Water St. There have been videos of crimes on Water Street that surfaced on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. After each incident, the posts circulated that caused more young people to talk about it.  

In a lot of cases the problem didn’t start on Water, it ended there, Chief Norman mentioned. 

“As much as we have an emphasis on the downtown, the job for the Milwaukee Police Department is to make sure the entire city is safe and as we put resources downtown we are also understanding that we have challenges all across the city, ” Chief Norman said. “We need to make sure that we are not being overly responsive to one so another part of our city is left out in the dry.”