Vanessa Swales and Alyssa N. Salcedo
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has pledged to improve the tracking of nuisance properties.
- Community group Common Ground found thousands of properties met the nuisance threshold but were not designated as such.
- The city’s nuisance ordinance is being re-examined following the indictment of a major landlord for drug trafficking.
- Norman stated his department will now require explanations for why eligible properties are not given nuisance status.
As Milwaukee moves to clamp down on problematic landlords, Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has vowed to improve how his department systematically tracks and flags nuisance properties citywide.
His promise comes after community members and elected officials questioned the decline in use of the city’s nuisance ordinance that targets vice, violence, or gang activity, including harassment, drug activity or littering, as neglectful landlords have thrust Milwaukee into the spotlight over legal action and federal probes.
Roughly 40 residents and members of Common Ground, a grassroots group that focuses on housing and health care rights, crammed into the city’s June 8 steering and rules meeting as leadership called for the better use of the nuisance ordinance as a part of their five-step safety plan for Milwaukee’s south side.
During public input, Common Ground presented its own analysis, finding thousands of properties that met the ordinance enforcement threshold but were not declared nuisance properties by the city.