Dear Mayor Johnson, Alderpersons, and other City Department Leadership,

National media and politicians are using fear-mongering to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds to increase police budgets. President Joe Biden has said, “Cities experiencing an increase in gun violence were able to use the American Rescue Plan dollars to hire police officers needed for community policing and to pay their overtime." Spending on police overall, and in Milwaukee where we've been experiencing the highest increases in violence, has steadily increased or remained the same, and over that period in time, investments in meeting community needs and violence prevention have declined. Milwaukee already spends almost $300 million on police every year. Spending more on police will not reduce violence. Instead we MUST be investing in participatory budgeting, public health, and affordable housing if we want to begin to see a decline in violence in Milwaukee.

The city is receiving the second half of $394 million as part of the American Recovery Plan Act, which should be spent on investments in our communities, not cops.

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, write on behalf of our communities in Milwaukee and demand that Milwaukee city leadership spends the American Recovery Plan Act monies in this way:

1. Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) gets $0 in funding. MPD already receives over $280 million annually and also received $9.8 million in CARES Act funding and $6.5 million of ARPA funding in 2021. During the city budget process last year, people overwhelmingly supported defunding the police and investing in other community-related needs.

2. Create a participatory budgeting trust that will allow residents from each Aldermanic District to have decision-making power on how this large influx of money should be spent. Through this participatory process, residents would propose a project that they would like to see, and residents would vote. This would ensure communities would have real decision-making power over what their neighborhoods need. There are over 650 examples of participatory budgeting in the United States, including in Seattle, New York City, Chicago, and Durham.

3. Provide housing assistance that includes rent and mortgage cancellation or deferment, long-term eviction moratoriums to address the looming and devastating eviction and foreclosure crisis, and permanent, quality accessible housing for all, including all unhoused people.

As individuals, organizations, and community members committed to an equitable and safe Milwaukee, we strongly support residents having real decision-making power in how Milwaukee spends the American Recovery Plan Act funds.

Sincerely,

Devin Anderson, Coalition and Membership Manager, African American Roundtable