Clarke’scontroversial leadership has led most high-profile Democratsincluding theMilwaukee County Democratic Partyto endorse Christopher Moews, a 14-yearveteran of the Milwaukee Police Department, in the September Democraticprimary.
Moews[pronounced like Mays] is a newcomer to politics but has an interesting résumé.After attending St. Francis Seminary for two years, Moews decided to become afamily man and serve his community by becoming a cop. He has risen through theranks to become a lieutenant and supervises the late shift of the homicidedivision. Although Moews, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, hasn’tbeen able to tap into Clarke’s network of wealthy suburban Republican donors tobuild a war chest, he has endorsements from Sen. Russ Feingold; former Gov.Patrick Lucey; state Sens. Lena Taylor and Tim Carpenter; state Reps. SandyPasch, Fred Kessler and Christine Sinicki; Milwaukee County Supervisors JohnWeishan and Chris Larson; Greendale Village President John Hermes; MilwaukeeAlderman Nik Kovac; the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs’ Association; the MilwaukeePolice Supervisors Organization; the Milwaukee Professional FirefightersAssociation; and the Fox Point Professional Police Officers ProtectiveAssociation.
The Shepherdhas asked Clarke for an interview, but his campaign asked for specificquestions to be sent to the campaign in advance of the interview. Moews placedno conditions on his interview and the Shepherddoes not want to give one candidate any advantage over the other. We lookforward to speaking with Sheriff Clarke in the future, without conditions.
Shepherd: Why did you decide to run?
Moews: This is not about Chris Moews. This is not about my opponent. This isabout the citizens of Milwaukee County deserving a betterSheriff’s Department. The sheriff is responsible for public safety and I thinkthat’s been severely neglected because of [Clarke’s] political motivations. Ithink he’s very politically involved. I don’t think anything shows that betterthan when he spoke at a tea party rally [in September 2009]. While this is apolitical and partisan race, I want to take the politics out of the Sheriff’sDepartment. I want to put the interests of Milwaukee Countyfirst. I don’t have any political aspirations of running for higher office.
I think thedepartment needs to be improved. Right now there are questions about thefinancial and work burden that are being put on our urban and suburbanpartners. As an MPD police officer for 14 years I can tell you the Sheriff’sDepartment does nothing in terms of fighting crime in the city of Milwaukee. He has devotedvery few deputies to tracking down people who are wanted on warrants. He hastwo deputies in the HIDTA [High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area] and he hasreduced their role in the narcotics enforcement in the county. They used tohave HIDTA and the metro unit with some other suburban partners. He eliminatedthe metro unit. I would like to improve upon some of the things that have beenaccomplished under the past few years under MPD Chief Flynn and I would like toreach out to the urban and suburban partners we have.
Shepherd: But isn’t the shrinkage of the department a result of the county’sbudget problems?
Moews: No. It’s the structuring of the department. Granted, we’re in a toughfinancial time.
Shepherd: If you win, you’re going to walk into the same problem.
Moews: Yes. He’s reduced the budget by hiring correctional officers insteadof deputies, but he’s not replenishing a force of deputies that is adequate toprovide safety services in Milwaukee County. Right now he isnot filling a lot of positions that have been filled historically. The witnessprotection programhe lost the funding from the state of Wisconsin, so instead of finding alternativeways of getting that money, he just cut the program. Then [Milwaukee County DistrictAttorney] John Chisholm stepped up as a leader and lobbied for that money andshowed how important that program is. If people can’t be protected, how can weexpect them to come forward in these murder cases? That is very important tokeeping our citizens safe. Instead of being a leader, he cut the program.
Heeliminated the fraud investigation unit [its duties have since been taken overby the district attorney’s office]. Traditionally it investigated fraud in Milwaukee County. Then the Journal Sentinel did the reporting on the day care scandals. I’mwith a lot of people on thisour tax dollars are precious and they should go topeople who legitimately need them. I want moms to be able to put their kids inday care so they can go to work. But I do not want unethical people to bleedthe system dry and take our hard-earned tax dollars.
Shepherd: Sheriff Clarke has not been supportive of the Community Justice Resource Center, which providesdrug and alcohol counseling, job training and education for offenders. What doyou think of this program?
Moews: I’m a full supporter of these programs. I’m a cop. That’s what I do.By the same token I understand that over 60% of people who get incarceratedjust come back through that door. We need to be smarter about how we’re doingthings, how we’re spending our money. I think one way to do that is toincorporate drug and alcohol counseling, job training, anger managementprograms. It’s been shown that fewer than one-third of the people [whoparticipate in one of these programs] will re-offend. The cost of incarceratingone person in a county jail is $38,000 for one year. Multiply that by thethousand, 1,100, that we have in there over the course of a year, that’s a lotof money. Milwaukee County cannot sustainthat financial burden anymore.
Shepherd: Much has been made of Clarke’s conservative political views and you’reclaiming to be the “real Democrat” in the race. Why is this important forvoters to know?
Moews: He’s not a Democrat. I believe that this is probably a political moveon his part, but the bottom line is that his philosophies and his policies donot align with the Democratic Party. Mine do. I’m the true Democrat in thisprimary. It’s not just an issue of personal politics. It’s an issue ofintegrity. He should be honest about what he believes and who he is. And if hecan’t be honest about who he is, then how can we expect him to be honest withthe general public? That’s who he’s working forfor you and for me.
