Possible link between police violence and decrease in 911 calls in 2004 Milwaukee case

Calls to 911 Emergency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, fell by about 20 percent—22,00 to be exact—following one of the most violent police assaults in Milwaukee history, an episode that has implications for cities across the country as well.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

That dropoff in 911 calls suggests the incident eroded trust and sharply damaged the relationship between the police and neighborhoods that often count on them the most, according to the study.

Controlling for crime and other factors, researchers found that 911 calls dropped by approximately 22,000 citywide over the following year, with the effect much higher in black neighborhoods …

As 911 calls dropped, the city experienced a surge in homicides later in 2005, leading the authors to suggest the lack of reporting of crimes by citizens may have contributed to the spike in killings.

The researchers found another drop in 911 calls in predominantly black neighborhoods after the beating of Danyall Simpson by a Milwaukee police officer. And they also found evidence that an incident of police violence in another city might have contributed to a drop in 911 calls in Milwaukee.

The vicious beating of Frank Jude back in 2004 by off-duty police officers—they weren’t even on the clock when they attacked Jude and thus couldn’t claim it as justified—“rocked” the city and seven officers were convicted of federal civil rights violations in the case. The researchers in this study “examined more than 1 million 911 calls in Milwaukee between 2004 and 2010.”  What they found even shocked them.