The number of rapes and homicides in Milwaukee County last year more than doubled compared to the year 2006, the year prior to when District Attorney John Chisholm took office, according to crime data compiled by the Milwaukee City Wire.
During the same time period, assaults increased by more than 84%, the numbers show, going from 3,873 to 7,132. Homicides rose 108%, from 103 in 2006 to 214 last year, while rapes increased 118%, from 220 in 2006 and 480 in 2022.
The numbers were recorded amid criticism of Chisholm for his approach to prosecutions and a perceived leniency to criminal defendants.
A MacIver Institute report criticized Chisholm’s tenure as district attorney, concluding that “Chisholm refused to admit that his reforms were failing, and even as Milwaukee’s violent crime rate steadily rose throughout the early 2010s, he insisted that his office’s policy of keeping offenders out of jail was an unbridled success.”
Chisholm was first elected Milwaukee County district attorney in 2006 and assumed office in 2007, according to Ballotpedia. In 2023, the number of homicides recorded to date in the county was 29, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
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Violent Crime Stats Under DA John Chisholm
Milwaukee City Wire
