The article by Alexander Ayala about the city of Milwaukee’s police shortage is his professional opinion for the right direction to go in resolving police departmen t membership ( “Shortage is critical; city must negotiate contract ,” Dec. 22).
Opening the process of monetary payment and benefits is a very important part of hiring police officers . As citizens, we have been severely deprived of a successful police department function. Going back in time – at least two of our past mayors – our police department has been admittedly undermanned.
We have heard continual stories from these mayors of the problems, and we have seen the Wisconsin state legislation deny Milwaukee money to remedy our problem. It is about time for the legislature to take responsibility for funding local police in our major cities.
The use of political ploys denies responsibility, especially for past defunding of the cities. It is the most important problem facing large urban centers in the state.
Patrick J. Curro, Milwaukee