Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service invites community members to submit opinion pieces of 500-800 words on topics of interest to central city Milwaukee. To send a submission for consideration, please email info@milwaukeenns.org. The views expressed are solely those of the authors.
The news about leadership changes (yet again) in Milwaukee’s Office of Community Wellness and Safety is heavy.
In my almost seven years here at Safe & Sound, the office has had 3.5 directors at its helm.
Feels like a start and stop. Start and stop. And while I’m not judging anybody’s decision to move around, I just want to be clear that when leadership changes, the community does not.
Over the past few months, I’ve been watching Adam Procell sit in hot seats and speak plainly about his past and his passion for this work. Regardless of where people land on his hiring process, I’m holding space for the human reality of this moment. There’s a difference between accountability and humiliation. I want us to do better at choosing dignity.
At the same time, our city can’t afford to reset the violence prevention conversation every time there’s a transition. The truth is Milwaukee’s safety is not the responsibility of any one person, office, or system. It’s a shared assignment.
I’ve served with Safe & Sound since 2019, and I’m proud of what our team and partners have built over the past seven years. Resident leadership, block level organizing, youth development, and practical prevention tools that strengthen the protective factors every neighborhood deserves.
The power of collaboration
My goal has been to work us out of a job. Because THE PEOPLE should be in full control of how we shape safety and belonging. We have seen what happens when residents, outreach workers, schools, funders, faith leaders, and public agencies move in the same direction.
I’m hoping we can stop debating our way into delay. We need more focus on prevention AND intervention. Data AND dignity. Urgency AND sustainability.
I personally think the city should focus on stabilizing the backbone infrastructure so work continues through transitions, clear interim leadership, regular partner convenings, and public- facing metrics. I’d like to see less energy spent measuring who got what funding and more energy measured in conflicts mediated, youth redirected, blocks supported, families stabilized, and lives preserved. But that’s just me (maybe too much like right).
Milwaukee has more good things happening than what makes headlines. I know this to be true in the work that I see happening every day. And this moment does not define what our progress can and should look like.
To city leadership and to every partner in the field: I am still down to collaborate (as Bridget the Black Woman;, as Safe & Sound the organization; and simply as a concerned member of this community with open hands, clear eyes, and shared accountability). If you’re serious about reducing harm and building lasting safety, I am pulling up my personal chair to the table. Not for ego but for outcomes and peace.
No more resets
I’m praying for Adam. I can’t imagine what this feels like. I just think we can uphold rules and still honor redemption.
We cannot afford to reset the work every time there is turnover. Violence prevention is not seasonal. Neighborhood safety requires sustained investment, consistent strategy, and shared accountability.
This is not the time for division (we got enough of that already). This is the time for deeper alignment and stronger partnerships without the red tape of titles and roles and org charts.
Bridget Whitaker serves as the executive director of Safe & Sound.The Milwaukee nonprofit strives to improve public safety by working with residents, youths and law enforcement.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
