Operation Relentless Pursuit, Violent Crime, Wisconsin 2020

In a move to combat violent crime, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance have awarded more than $61 million in grant funding to support the Attorney General’s Operation Relentless Pursuit (ORP) initiative in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Along with the Justice Department, Matthew D. Krueger, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that the COPS Office awarded $9,712,096 to the Milwaukee Police Department (“MPD”); $226,061 to the Wauwatosa Police Department; and $301,412 to the Cudahy Police Department. Those awards will fund a total of 32 police officers: 30 for MPD and one each for Wauwatosa and Cudahy, respectively.

Launched on December 18, 2019, ORP aims to intensify federal law enforcement resources into seven American cities with violent crime levels several times the national average, including Milwaukee. “While violent crime is down across the country as a whole, some communities remain caught in the grips of violent actors,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “That’s why I launched Operation Relentless Pursuit last December – an initiative to combat violent crime in seven cities where it remains stubbornly high.

These funds will boost the forces that need them most,” added Barr. According to United States Attorney Krueger, “These awards represent an unprecedented commitment of federal resources to fight violent crime in the Milwaukee area. These resources could not be more needed: Milwaukee continues to experience unacceptable rates of homicides and gun violence, often linked to drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession.

The COPS Office, through its COPS Hiring Program (CHP), awarded a total of $51 million to be used to hire 214 sworn law enforcement officers for state and local law enforcement task forces. The recipients of the funding will deploy existing veteran officers to task force duties and use the CHP funding to hire new recruits to backfill those positions, as practical.

“Successful strategies to target and reduce violent crime are extremely resource intensive,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “There is no greater resource than additional men and women on the front lines of relentless fight against gangs, drug traffickers and those that mean harm to our nation’s communities. The funding announced today is greatly needed for the Operation Relentless Pursuit jurisdictions and the COPS Office is honored to dedicate resources for this effort.”

The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is making $10 million available to support Operation Relentless Pursuit. BJA funds will support efforts such as the hiring of additional prosecutors, overtime expenses for task force members, multi-agency investigations, mobile data terminals and modern technological platforms, and development of strategic plans to address gaps in combating violent crime.

For a breakdown of the awards, please click here. For more information on the COPS Hiring Program ORP grants, please visit: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2020AwardDocs/chp/FY20_Relentless_Pursuit_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwi/pr/milwaukee-wauwatosa-and-cudahy-receive-102-million-awards-support-efforts-combat