It is often said in police agencies that patrol is the backbone. Yet too often police departments act like patrol is the expendable resource, made up of call-answerers and report takers, while the real police work is done by special units. That has to change. We're not report takers. We're the police. Every member of this agency, and every unit in this agency, will be judged on what their contribution is to our core mission. We will focus on the Districts. It is there that the many communities that make up Milwaukee are located. It is there that the unique needs and priorities of our communities must be handled. Our local commanders and their officers are those in closest touch with the needs of those neighborhoods. The rest of the department must, and will, support those critical efforts.

To the command staff and supervisory officers of the Milwaukee Police Department, I commit myself to empowering you and developing your potential as leaders. I believe responsibility must be accompanied by sufficient authority to accomplish the mission. I believe in the principles of delegation and accountability. I foster an environment in which responsible risk-taking on behalf of the public good is encouraged and supported. I believe firmly that the police department does not exist to avoid mistakes; it exists to accomplish something important.

What I expect in return is your focus on the mission and on the needs of those for whom you are responsible. You are responsible for the safety of this community. You are also responsible for the performance of your people and for meeting their legitimate needs. Your officers need to know how they are doing, they need to know willful incompetence will not be ignored, good work will be recognized, and honest mistakes will be dealt with differently than misconduct. They need to know you care about them and for them and do all you can to help them succeed in our mission. I also expect your best advice and for that advice to be about the future of this department and this city, not your career. I have very little patience with office politics, rival factions or cliques. Your first and only loyalty must be to this city.

To the officers of the Milwaukee Police Department, I commit myself to do all that I can to see that you are properly trained, equipped, supervised and supported. I believe in you. I believe you became police officers because you sought moral clarity and wanted to make a difference in people's lives and the life of your city. I pledge to you to foster an environment worthy of the idealism that brought you to us. I recognize that police work is hard and that it can be emotionally debilitating. I know about the frustrations of the work and the constant risk of demoralizing cynicism. But I also know that our work has meaning. If anyone lives a purpose-driven life, it is a police officer. The greatest antidote to cynicism is a sense of accomplishment, accompanied by community support and acceptance. You also need to believe that your opinion about how to accomplish our mission matters. You are closer to the work than anyone in the organization. If this department can successfully draw on your energy, your commitment, and your ideas, we will accomplish great things. I pledge to you that we will create an environment where you feel like you matter.

What I expect in return from you is integrity, courage, competence, commitment, compassion, restraint, and respect, for your department, yourself, each other and your community. I expect you to be leaders. You are as responsible for the morale and reputation of this department as I am. You must be the custodians of the honor of policing. I not only expect you to refrain from misconduct, I expect you to prevent it. Too often, we in the police are defined by our worst examples, not our best. Every act of misconduct undermines respect for everyone who wears a badge and for the rule of law. If you want to save a colleague's job, and protect your own reputation you must act. By the time it gets to me, it will already be too late, for your colleague and for our reputation.

To the community, I promise an open, accountable, accessible police department responsive to your concerns. It is my hope that, someday, support for the department will be uniformly strong across every neighborhood and from every sector of society. I hope someday that all of our communities will be willing to suspend judgment when there is a critical incident until all the facts are in. But I recognize that we are not there yet. This police department and all its communities have a history and that history has not always been positive. We will work to learn from that history and not be held hostage to it. We will work to earn your trust. Reducing crime, fear, and disorder in your neighborhood while treating you with dignity and respect will be our down payment on earning that trust.

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