The Way I See It!

I have always thought that us south-siders (Cudahy/South Milwaukee) have some kind of inferiority complex. No sense of community pride, especially in the youth. Cudahy/South Milwaukee have all the great things that Shorewood/Whitefish Bay have, but we don't have the pride in our community to stand up for what is dragging the south side down. Get rid of the problem spots, shut them down, then tear the buildings down. I would rather pay higher taxes myself (trust me that doesn't come easy for me to say, I am your typical angry overtaxed citizen) and force some of this blighted/low rent property out of my city. All you have to do to find the trouble spots is go the site that shows the sexual predators in each city and you can clearly see the areas of a city that the trouble seems to be centered around. That isn't to say they are the problem, that is to say those are the areas that the trouble seems to find.

SM RAF you are exactly right “we don't have the pride in our community to stand up for what is dragging the south side down.  Get rid of the problem spots, shut them down, then tear the buildings down. And blighted/low rent property out of my city” We do have to do it with good reason and respect.  Slumlords need real lessons, not slaps on the wrist.

I hope Mayor McCue does do something about that.  He pledged to, but he has not kept many of his pledges so far.

I know Cudahy District One Alderman Joe Mikolajczak is very much involved and worried about the crime in the city.  He is the main push behind the K9 unit or showing the lack of one in Cudahy in how it hurts us.  I think maybe this summer Cudahy should hold a fundraiser to get a K9 unit, I can start it or head it if that will speed things along.

Our Youth, as you pointed out, have become so disenfranchised.  We need to engage them and provide things to keep them out of trouble.

I strongly agree on your observation of “south-siders (Cudahy/South Milwaukee) have some kind of inferiority complex”.  I think that is one of the problems with Mayor McCue, he falls in to the trap that if we are not “Shorewood/Whitefish Bay,” then Cudahy has to be remade in their image.  Another reader made a statement that “We don’t need to be another Franklin or Germantown or West Bend.  We need to be the only Cudahy” and that is true in so many ways.  We can learn from these places and follow things that worked and make common sense, but if we fix our problems.  I mean truly fix them, not sweep them under the table or believe they don’t exist, then our image will repair itself.  

Thank you for replying, I do hope this sparks more to do the same.  I do speak more for Cudahy, but this holds true for all of the South Shore area.  If we don’t voice our thoughts, fears, and ideas, no one will hear us!

Here is a response from email someone sent me.

There is indeed a serious problem when it comes to crime in Cudahy.  From drug dealers dealing drugs near elementary schools, to disorderly conduct resulting from patrons of near by bars, to out and out assaults with the offender's being as young as 8 years old.  Those are just a few of the many problems that the citizens of Cudahy are dealing with.  The question I pose is: What is being done to combat the problem?  Police involvement is only half the answer.  We as citizens need to "take back our community!”  We need to form a united front and work with law enforcement officials, to clean our community up and make it a safer place to live.  We need to look out for our neighbors and work together.  We need to send a message to all the criminals out there that we the citizen's of Cudahy will not tolerate this any longer!  

We have a drug house in our Neighborhood of Cudahy.  We have called many times to the Police.  I’ve been told by a dispatcher that when a Police car is available one will be sent 45 min later one came naturally the car was gone.  We need a K-9 now and a shorter response time.  We heard the Residence of the Drug House while sitting on their front porch actually say once the police came and left Boy I'm glad they didn't come in they would have found the Drugs.

There are many families with young children in our area.  We do not need Drugs and Guns around to take back our Cudahy we need Police working with us not just words.  We need Drug Busts and 24-hour surveillance on places Known for being Drug Houses.

I believe Crime has come into Cudahy because the Slum Drug and Ladies of the evening know Cudahy is lax in crime prevention.  We need more then meetings and words.  

Here is more responses from email.  Keep them coming either in direct commenting or email!

It's too true.  Cudahy police just don't seem to care.  Drugs, gangs, and prostitution are running rampant.  The citizens know and report these problems regularly.  

If Cudahy spent half as much effort in busting the drug houses, gang headquarters, and prostitutes, as they do enforcing their stupid parking laws, things would be a whole lot different.

I have written to the New Mayor and the old Chief of Police to crack down on the MAJOR problems here in Cudahy.  No response from either.

What is it going to take?  Someone getting shot?  I doubt that that will even motivate the Cudahy police to act.  Perhaps we should change the name of the city to Crudahy to reflect the level of service of our police department.  

There was a shooting here if we all recall in Cudahy right at the speedway on Packard Ave.  Next time it could be someone’s child.  

My children me the world to me I don't give a damn whose parked on the wrong side of the street tonight or if they have a parking permit!  I do care if my kids are safe in our neighborhood.  I didn’t buy a house here for my kids to live in a drug infested or gang problem area I bought if because I thought my kids might be safer than living in the city of Milwaukee!!