Milwaukee Police Department

The Milwaukee Police Department was organized in 1855 with a determined chief, seven pugnacious officers, and little money. The department grew to 21 men by the start of the Civil War in 1861. Law enforcement in the city soon earned the national reputation for honesty, integrity, and fairness it has enjoyed into the 21st century. The Milwaukee Police Department was first in the country to establish a formal officer training school, police bomb disposal vehicle, and "talking squad car." Nefarious criminals handled by the department include the foiled presidential assassin John Schrank, the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and characters with quaint nicknames like "Cat-eye Lil" and "Kelly the Choker."

This study examines the relationship between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Latino community in the second half of the twentieth century.

In Historical Black Milwaukee (1950-2022), the author illustrates how an African American community grew over time and the people, events, and institutions that shaped Black Milwaukee. He also shows the contributions that African Americans made to the City of Milwaukee's growth and its history. Bonds provides a detailed discussion on historical Black Milwaukee. He shows how a small Black population of 21,772 (3.41%) out of Milwaukee's population of 637,392 in 1950 grew to become the second-largest racial group in Milwaukee with a total population of 223.962 (38.8%), based on the City of Milwaukee's 2021 estimated population of 577,222. The author discusses the people (community leaders, Black elected officials at every level of government, and Black professionals in the public, private, and criminal justice sectors) who shaped historical Black Milwaukee. Moreover, he provides a detailed discussion of various institutions (Black businesses, schools, religion, media outlets (newspaper, radio stations, televisions, etc.), social service agencies, and more that shaped historical Black Milwaukee. And the book reveals the role of Black cultural institutions (museums, art galleries, bookstores, nightclubs, sports leagues, etc.), cultural events (festivals, art shows, and more), Black neighborhoods, and public landmarks (streets, buildings, murals, parks, etc.) named after Blacks who contributed to the growth of its community and the City of Milwaukee's history. This book discusses the challenges and opportunities that led to the integration of the Black population into the City of Milwaukee. Historical Black Milwaukee will become a book that can be updated regularly and can provide a one-stop reference book on Black Milwaukee for the period of 1950-2022. The book also discusses lessons learn from historical Black Milwaukee and their implications for other Black communities.

With the migration of African American sharecroppers to northern cities in the first half of the 20th century, the African American population of Milwaukee grew from fewer than 1,000 in 1900 to nearly 22,000 by 1950. Most settled around a 12-block area along Walnut Street that came to be known as Milwaukee's Bronzeville, a thriving residential, business, and entertainment community. Barbershops, restaurants, drugstores, and funeral homes were started with a little money saved from overtime pay at factory jobs or extra domestic work taken on by the women. Exotic nightclubs, taverns, and restaurants attracted a racially mixed clientele, and daytime social clubs sponsored "matinees" that were dress-up events featuring local bands catering to neighborhood residents. Bronzeville is remembered by African American elders as a good place to grow up--times were hard, but the community was tight.

From the author of Lost Milwaukee comes an exploration of the criminal side of the Cream City. Milwaukee saw its share of violence as it transformed from frontier village to modern metropolis. The city was barely established when an argument over a bridge linking east and west was nearly settled with cannon fire. A local developer killed his estranged wife, severed her head, and burned it in the furnace of the apartment building he built. A wronged woman murdered her lover on a busy downtown street and was found innocent by a sympathetic jury. Another woman lethally poisoned her family and laughed about it in the press. From a robbery in which the bandits got away by stealing a streetcar to the attempted assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt, local historian Carl Swanson uncovers dramatic true stories of villainy and murder from Milwaukee's long-forgotten past.