Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, held a public meeting Thursday to outline its desire to improve police accountability and immigration policies, increase economic development and establish a safer community in Milwaukee.
"We are here because over 100 homicides in the community is unacceptable," said the Rev. Joseph Jackson Jr., the outgoing president of MICAH and pastor of Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, 1138 W. Center St. The state of Milwaukee Public Schools and the way Milwaukee deals with crime needs to be changed, he said.
"Enough is enough," Jackson said. "Now is not the time to be nice."
MICAH is a faith-based organization focused on issues that involve the Milwaukee community. To date, the organization is comprised of 39 interfaith Milwaukee-area religious organizations.
One goal that was emphasized is to change the way in which the city of Milwaukee deals with some criminals.
According to Laura Manriquez, chairwoman of the Treatment Instead of Prison (TIP) initiative, the use of clinics and treatment centers, or holistic healing, would be better alternatives to prison sentences in cases where the offense is non-violent. The shift to holistic healing would not only save the city money, but would restore stability to community families.
"MICAH is currently working with city officials to pass legislation on the issue" regarding alternative punishment for non-violent criminals, Manriquez said.
MICAH is also concerned with the state of the Milwaukee Public School system.
"Forty-one percent of Milwaukee children live in poverty," said Roger Brooks, secretary of the MICAH Education Committee.
"There is one school nurse for every 9,500 Milwaukee Public School students," he said. Brooks said many Milwaukee schools also have no health care programs for students. According to Brooks, MICAH will demand that comprehensive health care plans be implemented in all schools across the Milwaukee area.
But MICAH's main goal is to increase the safety of Milwaukee residents. The meeting included the personal testimony of Yvonne Modisett of Hephatha Lutheran Church, 1720 W. Locust St., who described multiple occasions in which gunfights had occurred outside her home, endangering the lives of her two children.
But despite their best efforts to reconstruct the community, MICAH members say they recognize they cannot realize this goal alone.
"We cannot have an effective campaign without a healthy relationship with the Milwaukee Police Department," said the Rev. Dennis Jacobsen of Incarnation Lutheran Chuch, 1510 W. Keefe Ave.
However, Jacobsen said the police department must be held accountable for their actions. Jacobsen brought up the example of Frank Jude Jr., who was beaten by Milwaukee police last year, as proof the department needs to make some sort of change.
"Police must change (their) behavior or be removed from their jobs," Jacobsen said, referring to the Jude case.
In recent months, the city of Milwaukee has also shown a conscious commitment to working with MICAH, according to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who was in attendance.
In an effort to monitor police action more closely, the city has sent a request for 25 police vehicles to be equipped with security cameras, Barrett said. The city has received a grant from the state of Wisconsin to put cameras in these cars in April 2006.
Barrett has also been working closely with Senator Herb Kohl's (D) office to get federal money earmarked to the city. According to Barrett, a proposed $500,000 earmark for the overall development of city programs fell through recently, despite Kohl's efforts.
This close working relationship should continue in the future, Barrett said.
"My pledge is to work with MICAH to achieve these goals," he said.
In the end, MICAH officials say they are prepared to attack the problems that face Milwaukee inner-city residents.
"The issues are plentiful, but we are well able to achieve what is necessary," said the President of MICAH, the Rev. Louis E. Sibley III of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2207 N. 2nd St. Sibley began his term at the conclusion of the meeting.
"We are ready to go forward," he said.