In the interest of public safety, I think it's time to hang some brake lights on Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. That way, if Barrett comes to a sudden stop, Ed Flynn won't hurt himself or the Mayor too badly.
I realize that Flynn, Milwaukee's embattled Chief of Police, needs to curry favor with Barrett in order to keep his job. Still, has he no sense of shame?
First, Barrett and Flynn stage a press conference to support the Mayor's call for gun control. Flynn dutifully displays a ton of scary looking weapons seized by MPD over the last few years. The fact that almost none of the guns would have been kept off the streets had Barrett's policies been implemented is conveniently overlooked by all involved.
Then, last week, Flynn decided to ride to Barrett's rescue and joust with Sheriff David Clarke after Clarke got the better of Barrett in a national interview. This led to Flynn claiming that Clarke was trying to "terrorize people about the safety of the streets" and "undermine confidence in local law enforcement". All this hysteria because Clarke said that citizens should consider learning how to defend themselves from violent attackers.
In a case of really bad timing, one day after Flynn's comments, a 21-year-old man died in a hail of gunfire on North 41st Street. The shooting occurred at 10 a.m. Yes, 10:00 a.m.! Nobody is in custody as of yet.
On top of that, two other men were shot (one killed) in another hail of gunfire early Saturday morning at 18th and Greenfield.
And it's Sheriff Clarke that's trying to "terrorize" people?
I understand that everybody and his brother seems to be out for Flynn's head. Some of the complaints strike me as being legitimate, others less so.
As a result, I certainly get why Flynn feels the need to pander to his patron, Tom Barrett. After all, if Flynn loses the support of Barrett, he'll be gone faster than you can say Nan Hegerty.
Face it, nobody has ever accused Tom Barrett of being willing to take extreme political heat for anybody - much less a controversial Chief of Police.
Still, Flynn would be a lot better off simply doing his job - instead of picking a fight with the extremely popular Sheriff of Milwaukee County.
Especially since, this time at least, Clarke is right.
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