Effective immediately, all Milwaukee Police officers working the night shift will be paired with a partner, according to Chief Ed Flynn.
“We recognize our officers are feeling vulnerable right now,” Flynn said during a press conference Friday afternoon addressing the massacre in Dallas.
“These officers were assassinated and every American has to condemn this type of violence,” Mayor Tom Barrett said.
Thursday’s attack against Dallas police during a “Black Lives Matter” protest struck a nerve with both the police chief and mayor.
"If yesterday in Dallas proved anything, it proved that police officers were willing to die to defend the right of people to express a message that was negative about their own profession," Flynn said.
The biggest fear right now is that a copycat criminal may try and attack more police.
"We do a pretty good job in this country of arming criminals and arming mentally ill people,” Flynn said.
Milwaukee resident Montavius Jones says while he has some trust issues with police, the violence unfolding is unacceptable.
"I don’t think the answer to violence is more violence,” he said. “Police officers getting shot are just as tragic as the unarmed men getting shot.”
Mayor Barrett stressed the importance of working together to curb violence.
“I want this to be a community where people in this city can work with and respect our police officers,” he said. “I also need this to be a city where police officers can work with and respect our citizens."
Flynn admits there are numerous “threats” against police being made on the internet. He says those threats are taken seriously and will be investigated.
