MILWAUKEE — Brady Street residents, business owners and police gathered Monday evening at The Standard Tavern to discuss ongoing concerns about late-night crime and unruly behavior in the Milwaukee neighborhood.
Todd Jacobson, who has lived near Brady Street for 20 years, said the issues have been building for years — but a recent shooting brought the urgency to a head.
"My neighbor, there was a shooting on Astor last month; one of the bullets ended up coming down, hitting the side of her house, so we've kind of just rallied since this; it's getting a little too close," Jacobson said.
Jacobson said residents have repeatedly raised concerns about late-night unruly behavior, but have grown frustrated with the response.
"You know we get the same thing, there's not enough police officers, I get it, but at a certain point you have to do something," Jacobson said.
Watch: Brady Street neighbors push back on late-night crime
The union representing Milwaukee police officers previously raised concerns about being understaffed. Milwaukee's mayor said he has done what he can to fund the Milwaukee Police Department's recruitment efforts.
Last summer's police recruitment class graduated only 25 recruits. The class that began in March 2026 started with just 40 recruits — below the budgeted class size of 65 recruits per class.
Jacobson said the problem is concentrated not inside the bars, but around them.
"People are coming down here, not going to the bars, but they're hanging on the side streets and causing most of the problems," Jacobson said.
His proposed fix is straightforward.
"The simple solution is more police officers, but put them on the side streets," Jacobson said.
Brady Street business owners share those concerns. Johnny Piette, who owns Famous Smoke Shop, said loitering is driving customers away.
"Somehow they have to kind of enforce the loitering laws. To stop the people who aren't coming down here to spend money and get them out of here," Piette said.
"We operate an upscale cigar bar; we have the only smoking license in the city, and we sell expensive things, and to have that type of behavior scares our customers away," Piette said.
Jacobson said residents are ready to take a more active role in shaping the neighborhood's future.
"I'm very proud to live in this neighborhood; this is a wonderful neighborhood, and when you're gonna come down here and bring it down, we're going to fight back," Jacobson said.
"We're just trying to get more involved," Jacobson said.
This story was reported on-air by a TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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