MILWAUKEE — Human trafficking cases and homicides increased in Milwaukee during the first quarter of 2025, according to crime statistics released by Milwaukee Police Department.
The number of homicides at this time last year was 23, compared to 25 in 2025, a 9% increase. However, homicides are still down 36% from 2023.
It comes as a 6-year-old was killed in Milwaukee last Tuesday, April 1 due to what police say was “negligent” handling of a firearm.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman addressed the incident at a press conference on Tuesday.
“Negligent handling firearms is unacceptable at all levels,” Norman said at the press conference. “If this is the case in your household, around your space… you will be held accountable. Lock up those guns. Protect your children. Practice gun safety.”
Human trafficking cases were also up 50%, going from six in 2024 to nine in 2025, though a 2019 Wisconsin Department of Justice study has found that data usually undercounts those encounters with law enforcement.
Despite these increases, the total amount of violent crimes — which includes homicide, rape, robbery and more — decreased by 18% in 2025 from the same time span in 2024.
“I want crime to be rare. I don’t want for people to be victims of crime in the city of Milwaukee,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said“I want crime to be rare. I don’t want for people to be victims of crime in the city of Milwaukee,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at the press conference.
The Q1 numbers, measuring from Jan. 1 to March 31, also show theft was down 12% and auto theft was down 3% year over year.
The number of crashes in Milwaukee saw a downturn too, though by a small margin, data shows. Crashes decreased by 6% from this time last year; hit-and-run crashes declined by 6% too.
Last week, Norman said at a luncheon that the city was “trending in the right direction,” but that the department faced staffing challenges.
The department on Tuesday also unveiled its 2025 Violent Crime Reduction Plan, which was first launched in 2023. In it, officials addressed the need for youth outreach and highlighted the addition of school resources officers in Milwaukee Public Schools, saying it hopes to build upon the existing partnership.
In addition, the plan looks at community- and problem-oriented policing strategies to combat crime.
Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern said he’s committed to making Milwaukee a safer place.
“…every person in every neighborhood in this city deserves to be safe in their daily lives. That is a fundamental right that each and every one of us in this community have,” he said at the press conference.
Lovern said it’s important that families and community members get involved to help curb crime.
