• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Local leaders seek signed pledges from community members to get involved

Local leaders seek signed pledges from community members to get involved

February 25, 2014 by Edgar Mendez Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Students from Christ-St. Peter Lutheran School were among the first to receive pledge cards. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Students from Christ-St. Peter Lutheran School were among the first to receive pledge cards. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Alderman Bob Donovan, who represents a district on the South Side, is encouraging residents to commit to fighting violence and other crime in the city by making a pledge.

The “I Pledge Milwaukee” initiative, part of an eight-point plan to increase public safety, was recently introduced by Donovan and other state and local leaders.

The pledge initiative is loosely based on a similar program in Philadelphia, according to Donovan. The goal is to encourage residents to pledge action, time, money or other commitments to their neighborhoods. Their contributions might be through clean-ups, keeping an eye out for crime, volunteering at a local non-profit or other community engagement.

Alderman Bob Donovan said the "I Pledge Milwaukee" campaign recognizes that the power of the city lies in its people. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Alderman Bob Donovan said the “I Pledge Milwaukee” campaign recognizes that the power of the city lies in its people. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

“Do what you can; start where you’re at,” Donovan said.

Students from Christ-St. Peter Lutheran School, 2229 W. Greenfield Ave. in Muskego Way, were among the first to sign a version of the pledge designed for students, which does not include personal information such as phone number or email address.

Other strategies to improve public safety include adding 250 more police officers, expanding the use of “shotspotter” technology and strengthening community prosecution units.

The initiative is still in the planning phase, but pledge forms soliciting a name, address, email and phone number, along with a specific pledge, will be distributed throughout the city. Donovan said one idea is to link up citizens who have common ideals.

“I want to bring together people who are working on similar commitments, like those who pledge to be block watch captains,” Donovan said.

Bonnie Constantine and her husband Darwin, who’ve lived on the South Side for 30 years, said the initiative is long overdue.

“It gives us a way to do something other than just complain about problems in the neighborhood,” Bonnie said.

Emilio Lopez, retired former associate executive director of the Milwaukee Christian Center, knows that getting people to participate is an uphill challenge. Lopez, who’s part of the committee planning the initiative, said some people are afraid and others just don’t want to bother with it.

Still, Lopez said that increasing the number of people who volunteer in their community by 5 or 10 percent would greatly improve public safety.

“What we’re trying to do is to create an avenue for residents to get involved; we can’t battle crime unless the community buys in,” Lopez said.

Natasha Vega, who lives in Clarke Square, said she cares about crime, but won’t sign a pledge card. Vega said she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing her personal information, not knowing exactly how that information will be used.

“I’m not giving my address and phone number; why does anybody need that?” asked Vega.

Donovan said a website for the initiative will likely be created and data collected from pledges will eventually be compiled, though figuring what to do with that information is still being worked out.

“A steering committee is being put in place to address those issues, but we’re looking for input from anyone who’s interested,” Donovan said.

As of now, the Milwaukee Police Department is not a partner in the pledge initiative, though that could change in the future, according to Donovan.

John Hefter, who lives in Layton Park, was not worried about sharing his information. Though he said he generally feels safe in his community, he said it could be improved if more people get involved. Hefter pledged to attend more community meetings and meet more people in his neighborhood.

“If we know who our neighbors are, then together we can confront crime and other issues in our neighborhood,” he added.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Home, Neighborhoods, News, Public Safety Tagged With: pledge, Public Safety

Edgar Mendez

About Edgar Mendez

Facebook |  Twitter | More stories from Edgar

Edgar is a senior staff reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in Journalism and Sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in Communication. As an accomplished journalist, Edgar’s awards include a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow award, several press club awards and a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

What you need to know now about mail-in voting in Wisconsin

6 helpful tips on mail-in voting to ensure that your vote is counted and your voice is heard in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election this November.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in