City leaders say it's a never-ending cycle: Teens stealing cars, getting arrested, and then getting out on the street committing crimes again.
The mayor and police chief are both taking aim at the county for what they call a broken system when it comes to crime and punishment.
Thursday, we learned new numbers about the epidemic Milwaukee faces. Milwaukee police officers are making the arrests - the problem is what happens next.
Since January of last year, juveniles stole more than 700 cars. Police arrested nearly 500 suspects, and 130 of them had already been arrested at least once before.
27 suspects have been arrested four times. Two of them - six times. The mayor says young lives are at stake.
"If you're a young lady out there, this is not cool. We've got young girls in these cars who think this is cool. We've got young guys trying to impress these girls. There is nothing impressive about a coffin. It's tragic," Mayor Tom Barrett said.
Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn echoed those sentiments, warning the county and state not to waste the expensive effort to arrest offenders.
January 2016 had the highest rate of car thefts in the city, but then after a drop in February, they were on the rise again in March and April. In May, 135 fewer calls were stolen, but it's still an average of 13 per day.
"The city is all-in," Chief Flynn says. "Hundreds of millions - a quarter billion dollars a year. The city is all in. I want to see the other components of the criminal justice system, the county and state, step it up."
One other piece of good news from MPD, at least when it comes to arrests - police have recovered more than 1,000 illegal guns this year. That's the fastest rate in nearly a decade.
