MILWAUKEE-The budget submitted last week in Milwaukee County shows that while Tea Party Sheriff David Clarke likes to talk tough, the fact is he was shielded for years from tough choices and responsibility by his political ally Scott Walker.
Now that the bills have come due for Walker’s reckless reign – as has the time for Clarke’s mollycoddling – Clarke is reverting to form and running behind the skirts of his allies in Milwaukee’s right-wing talk radio to hide his poor management and lack of law enforcement leadership.
“David Clarke was a protected pet of Scott Walker during Walker’s disastrous tenure in office, but now that Walker has taken his show to Madison, the curtain is being pulled back to expose Clarke for what he is: A fraud,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Mike Tate said Monday. “Clarke has spent his time in office renting horses for parades, getting in petty fights with judges and obsessing over the color of deputies’ uniforms. The thing Clarke has NOT done amid the grandstanding is show anything like fiscal leadership, which makes him more like his ally Scott Walker than he may understand.”
FACT: In 2009, the City of Milwaukee Police Department reported 41,375 crimes, while David Clarke’s Milwaukee Sheriffs reported only 19. [http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/
FACT: David Clarke’s budget has been increased by 62% in the last ten years while arrests, detentions, and citations have fallen sharply.
FACT: While the adult detention population has declined 12% over the past 4 years, David Clarke’s expenditures on adult detention have decreased a mere 5%.
FACT: According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, Milwaukee County currently has 30% more law enforcement employees than comparable Counties.
FACT: David Clarke’s Sheriff’s Department represents 1/3rd of the tax levy in the entire County Budget.
