'Safe & Sound' Program Helps Reduce Crime, Protect Children

Something exciting is happening in Wisconsin, and it is receiving much-deserved national attention.

Safe & Sound is a local program that partners with law enforcement, prosecutors, youth organizations, elected and civic leaders and businesses to reduce crime in Milwaukee’s low-income neighborhoods. It connects adults and young people who live in these neighborhoods with these individuals to prevent crime and drug abuse. This unique approach to addressing crime empowers residents to work together and is creating a safer community.

Safe & Sound established "Safe Places" for young people to gather after school to engage in neighborhood improvement projects as well as drug and alcohol prevention and gang-resistance activities. Safe & Sound Community Partners go door-to-door in high-crime neighborhoods to listen to and address residents’ concerns. They also organize block watches, which strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and neighborhood residents. Through these initiatives, Safe & Sound enhances safety, reduces crime and improves the overall quality of life for residents.

This week, President Obama released the administration’s blueprint for reducing drug use on the national scale, known as the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy. The strategy highlights Safe & Sound as a shining example of an organization collaborating with community members to reduce drug-related crime. I applaud the work that Safe & Sound does to reduce crime in Milwaukee and look forward to its continued success.

We must work to keep young people on the right track. According to juvenile justice experts, every dollar spent on prevention saves three to four dollars in costs attributable to juvenile crime. For several years, I have supported robust organizations that keep young people out of trouble, from summer recreational programs for at-risk teens, to intervention programs aimed at reducing truancy, to educational programs that empower girls to excel in math and science. Young people who stay out of the criminal justice system are much less likely to become adult offenders.

I also work hard to provide law enforcement with the tools they need to keep Wisconsin’s communities safe. I am committed to the Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, which has allowed police and sheriff’s departments throughout Wisconsin to put more than 1,400 cops on the beat since 1996, engage in community policing programs, and upgrade critical technology needed to fight and prevent crime - from cameras in squad cars to improved communications systems.

Additionally, I have been an advocate for Byrne grants to fund state and local drug task forces, community crime prevention programs, prosecution initiatives and many other local crime control programs.

I congratulate Safe & Sound for its national recognition, and look forward to continuing to make fighting crime and keeping our communities safe a top priority.