Get Real: Walker's Record on Public Safety

Here we go again, Scott Walker's photo-op approach to public safety. He will say anything to get elected even if it doesn't comport with his own record on public safety. Now he is running an attack ad on the subject when he really should be running from his own dismal record instead.

We all know about Walker's long standing mismanagement of Milwaukee County's Mental Health Complex (MHC), but recent reports show us that this social services crisis is quickly turning into a public safety problem. WISN News did two stories recently on two different families that are unfortunately being forced to deal with this mismanagement directly.

One family consists of the father and aunt of the women that was repeatedly sexually assaulted at the MHC. Twice this year that same victim was allowed to simply walk away from the long-term facility. The first time she was found walking amongst dangerous traffic. Less than a month ago, after again walking away from the facility, she was found forcing her way into a local family's home and getting into a physical altercation with the unsuspecting mother of the house. Now, as WISN reported earlier this week, that mother and her husband are calling on Scott Walker to release a security report on the facility that he has so far tried to hide from the public.

This is only the most recent example of Scott Walker's public safety failures. This past summer I highlighted some of the others including the following:

•Walker's disastrous policies at the Mental Health Complex have also generated problems for local municipalities and their police departments.

•In the 2002 Budget there were 1,125.3 funded position equivalents for the Sheriff. In the 2009 budget that number was down to 952.9 (Walker’s recommended budget would have brought it down to 946.0)

•In the 2002 Budget there were 638.1 funded position equivalents at the House of Correction. In the 2009 budget that number was down to 486.0 (Walker’s recommended budget would have brought it down to 482.0). It should be no surprise that while Walker was in charge the overtime surged to record levels and there were even escapes from the facility.

•Even Walker's political ally Sheriff David Clarke described Walker's budget as a "patchwork" and promised that he would have to release 120 inmates and reduce freeway patrols.

•Then there was Walker's privatization scheme which brought this guy to supervise security at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.