Posted on Friday, 2nd May 2008 by Patrick Dorwin
Kewl! Milwaukee is going to the classic Black & White police squads, and they will be hitting the streets soon. I know it won’t have an effect on crime, but I like the look!
Update: Posted in Comments
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24 Responses to “Black & Whites to hit the Milwaukee streets”
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May 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
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May 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
How long does a squad car typically last? How many miles do they put on them? Do they overhaul engines and suspensions, etc., to keep them around longer? I’ve always wondered about this kind of stuff.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
At a cost of approximately $600-$800 for repainting a squad, I think it’s way too expensive. Don’t you think this money could’ve been spent to fill vacancies?
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Elwood would be proud. “Cop transmission, cop shocks, cop brakes,…”. But does it run good on regular gas?
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I like the black and white look. It increases police visibility which is always a good thing.
I also think the classic paint job sends a message to the bad guys.
This is not the same MPD.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
“When you’re moving assertively on many fronts in terms of organizational change and crime fighting strategies, it’s not a bad thing to have a little fun,” Flynn said today.
I really like this guy! He’s a no-nonsense crime fighter, yet he knows when it’s time to lighten up. This is an element of leadership that has long been absent in MPD.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm
They definitely look cooler and it is kinda cool for the new chief to send a message that their is a new badass in town, but it seems like a waste of money.
A black and white police Harley will look real nice.
If it starts to look like Flynn isn’t doing a good job (thankfully it looks like the exact opposite) people are going to point to this and say why weren’t you doing “X” while you were wasting time and money repainting cars. It seems like a bold, cocky move. We probably could have used more bold cocky moves out of our last few top cops.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Milwhowie, the article clearly states the cost to paint each car is $300. Where did you get the $600 – $800 figure?
The article says 55 newly ordered cars will be painted. My math puts the additional cost at $16,500, much less than a single cop’s salary.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I like the black and white look. Now all they need is some wide white walls and lots’ of chrome.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I like the black and white look. If they added wide white walls and chrome spoked wheels it\’d look like my Harley.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Update
I have an update from the Milwaukee Police Departments Public Relations Manager, Anne E. Schwartz, just to clarify a few things.
MPD is not repainting existing squads, it is the new squads that are on order, and all future orders that will be painted black and white. Also, the final cost of these 54 squads will not be any higher than if they were painted in the black and white scheme at the factory.
I also want to update something that the paper has posted, they mention Franklin as an area department that has gone to the black & white scheme, but Glendale is also using these colors.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I’d like to know where you can get a car painted for $300. The estimate to repaint my car, a Thunderbird, was $2200.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
If you had 54 Thunderbird’s and a body shop that you do bulk business with, I’ll bet it wouldn’t cost you $2200 per.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I notice they’re using the old style shield too. I think the cops should go back to those on their uniforms as well. I always thought they looked more official than the generic one they have now.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I hit a snag on my first post so my rough draft and my edited version both appear. Not a problem.
I believed from the onset that the B&W scheme was “going forward” not retro.
Go for it! Can’t wait for the 105′th.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
http://www.edmunds.com/media/il/features/general/does.that.cop.car.have.a.hemi/cop.340.jpg
http://powet.tv/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/barricade.jpg
http://media.musclecarblog.com/ai/2007/228.jpg
http://www.priory-campus.co.uk/dreamweaver/andrewhall/images/blbro01.jpg
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 pm
A lot of people are praising Chief Flynn, both inside and outside the police department, regarding the changes that he is making within the police department. Unfortunately not all changes are positive ones. MPD is loosing a great asset. Deputy Chief Brian O’Keefe of the Criminal Investigation Bureau is retiring after what many believe is caused by a disagreement between the Chief and O’Keefe about future changes to the department within CIB. These changes will occur within the next couple months after Flynn starts promoting people in key positions. With the retirement of O’Keefe, who will replace him…..Monica Ray????
Like Flynn has said during his swearing-in ceremony, “Change is coming”. I agree that change is necessary in the way officers are deployed within the city in order to reduce crime, fear, and disorder. However the Chief is attempting to overhaul the entire department from changing division names (from Patrol Bureau to Bureau of Neighborhood Policing; from Criminal Investigation Bureau to Bureau of Investigations) to making policy changes. Members of the police department are proud to be City of Milwaukee Police Officers and a lot of it has to do with history and tradition. I am afraid that when he leaves in four years MPD will no longer look and feel like the MPD in 2007. The changing of the squad car colors is just the start and I am not sure where it will end. Oh yes did I say “Squad” car. MPD calls their cars “Squads” and police officers are assigned “Squad Areas”; however the Chief still feels the need to call them “Cruisers”, “The cruisers will be rolling out and they’re going to roll out with a different look.” Pretty soon Flynn will not be called Chief but instead Commissioner. I am all for changes in policing strategies; however something needs to be said about tradition, which is closely related to moral and a piece of ownership that all members of the police department feel about MPD.
On a side note AfterDarkDave has a good point/post on the Friday Open Line for (5/2/08). Will Flynn’s administrative assistant be either Kelling and Wasserman, who are paid consultants hired by the Bradley Foundation to study MPD and who offered to help Barrett select the new police chief. Now that “they” have selected the new chief…will one of them be rewarded by getting the new position on the department. Change is coming and it is coming fast.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Scott M., change–for Flynn’s sake– isn’t, on its face, a good thing. Necessary changes are needed in some areas and should be embraced, such as department-wide decentralization.
Flynn doesn’t see detectives as crime fighters. The chief, instead, refers to detectives as “investigators,” who “react” after it’s too late to prevent crimes.
I strongly disagree with Flynn here. Tell the families of those homicide victims in Madison detectives can’t prevent crimes from occurring. They absolutely do, and can stop those who will kill, rob, and rape again from remaining on the streets by putting cases on these goons.
In the past, the detective bureau in Milwaukee ran the show. This is going to change under Flynn. But the chief would be wise not to fix something that’s not broke. For example, the homicide and sensitive crimes divisions are top notch. If Flynn starts to mess with success, clearance rates will dip.
Rumor has it Flynn really wants to promote Denita Ball and place her in charge of the detective bureau. This promotion and assignment would be a disaster. Ball was never a detective. She was an office jockey under Arreola, Jones and Hegerty.
Flynn should consider his impeding shake-up a difficult balancing act. He needs to institute change while, at the same time, respecting some of the traditions of a police department.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:16 am
South Milwaukee PD also uses black and whites.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
Scott & ADD, I’ve long advocated significant changes are needed in MPD and would caution everybody to wait and see how Chief Flynn accomplishes this. The MPD Detective Bureau bosses have long considered themselves and their Bureau as the center of the universe to which all other Department entities must bow rather than as part of the team. I’ve made it no secret that the Bureau culture must be blown up and rebuilt. I’m glad he’s doing it, and it required somebody from the outside with real police experience and the ability to recognize the problems holding MPD back. With few minor exceptions, he’s doing exactly what I was advocating in my last years and what I would have done given the opportunity.
Scott, a lot of that “tradition” you refer to is really only about 20 years old and much of it was the result of the Arreola years. Prior to Arreola we called the Criminal Investigation Bureau – The Detective Bureau; the Sensitive Crimes Division – the Juvenile Division; the Sexual Assault Unit; and the Vice Squad. Most of us didn’t like the change in those names either but we got used to them. The thing to focus on is efficiency and effectiveness. Change is constant but it is the absolute most difficult thing for cops to accept because we want to be in control and we don’t like the unknown. That’s a normal reaction to change – especially for cops. Give it time. I think you’ll like the finished product. Unlike Arreola, this guy knows what he’s doing.
I hope you guys don’t take what I’ve written the wrong way. Trust me, if I thought this guy was moving in the wrong direction I’d say so.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Patrick, The paint costs more than $300, unless you are going to Earl Scheib, and then you are lucky to get 2 years before it peels off.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:13 am
So far, so good with the changes. I like the black & white look. Replaced through attrition. No extra cost. A good move. Some uniform changes coming too I’m told…
May 5th, 2008 at 7:59 am
ADD, change is hard for cops, and some of the changes coming have everyone nervous, but morale in the patrol bureau is high. For once the first line officers have some one on their side. It’s nice not to be treated like second class citizens. The good old boy network of the bureau is being taken apart, but that does not mean they can’t be as effective as they have been. There are some very good dedicated detectives in MPD, and this shake-up should not change how they do their jobs. I’ve even heard some detectives comment it’s about time something like this happens. By the way, back on topic, that black and white, I love it.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
2 sets of cars x $10 car tax = JACKPOT!!