Milwaukee Chief of Police Nannette Hegerty released a copy of a letter she penned to Common Council President Willie Hines in response to an April 12 letter in which Hines claimed that Hegerty, in a newspaper editorial she wrote, blamed the Common Council for the rise in crime in Milwaukee.

"I do not agree," she wrote in the letter to Hines, "with your statement that I placed the blame of rising crime at the feet of the Common Council.

"I must point out, however, that in 2005 I had asked for an additional police recruit class to maintain adequate staffing levels ... Members of the Common Council did not support my request. ... The Common Council holds the purse strings and ultimately controls the Police Department's budget."

Hegerty also noted that she will launch a "Violent Crime Strike Force" in coming months.

"In an effort to significantly reduce violent crime this summer, I intend, in the near future, to implement a Violent Crime Strike Force to saturate high crime areas with visible uniformed patrol, both on foot and motorized, to enforce quality of life issues and to supress violent crime."