On Sept. 4, Milwaukee witnessed its 90th homicideof the year. Although it is only September, the city has seen more homicides so far this year than in all of 2004.

"We don't know why" the murder rate is rising, said Anne E. Schwartz, a spokeswoman from the Milwaukee Police Department. "If we did, we could do more about it."

Many of Milwaukee's most recent homicides resulted from petty thefts and arguments, Schwartz said.

"People are not expressing their anger correctly," she said, explaining that oftentimes the homicides occurred after a fight over "dish soap or girlfriends," and were classified as incidents of domestic violence.

The 90th homicide occurred after a fight over a pair of stolen tennis shoes.

With little direction pointing to an overall cause, MPD is facing many difficulties in lowering the murder rate. But they are doing their best with the knowledge they have, according to Schwartz.

"We are putting all of our resources into lowering the rate," she said.

The police department has increased its presence in high-crime areas to serve as a deterrent, according to Schwartz. Police can be easily spotted in areas where the most homicides have taken place, she said.

Mayor Tom Barrett's office has also taken a variety of measures to help improve the city's safety.

Paul Vornholt, spokesman for the mayor's office, said the mayor has made an effort to speed up classes for new police officers in order to fill vacancies in the force.

Barrett has also worked with community groups that provide after-school options for youth and job placement for adults, according to Vornholt.

"A big part of this is economics," Vornholt said. He named frustration with unemployment and lack of income as factors in the crime rate.

Vornholt said the purpose of the programs is to "give (citizens) a sense of hope and purpose every day."

DPS says Marquette is not affected.

Although a majority of the victims and suspects fall between the ages of 18 and 25, sources agree that Marquette's campus is not largely affected.

"We keep our neighborhood very safe," said Capt. Russ Shaw, associate director of the Department of Public Safety, adding that no homicides have occurred near the campus.

"I feel safe on campus," said Patric Tuuk, a freshman in the College of Engineering. Tuuk said he believes that his feeling represents a majority of the students — thanks to the security provided by public safety.

Both Shaw and Schwartz encouraged students to make use of the public safety installments on campus when necessary.

"These are the problems of big cities and Milwaukee is a big city," Schwartz said, "but people are not unsafe in the city of Milwaukee."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 15, 2005.