Thom Reed opens his front door in the Sherman Park neighborhood and looks toward the corner of N. 49th and W. Hadley streets.
Within seconds, he hears two gunshots pierce the warm autumn night. A woman screams in terror, and two cars screech their tires and are gone.
He considers calling 911 to inform the Milwaukee Police Department but tells a reporter it's pointless.
"I don't bother calling on a few shots anymore," said Thom, 56. "Why bother to get involved? If someone was hit, they can call it in. But on a Friday night like this, you'll just be put on hold."
A Journal Sentinel report in August found average police response time to calls for service was slower last year than before Police Chief Edward Flynn took charge in 2008.
Department records showed police response lagged in 13 of 15 major call categories last year compared with 2007 figures.
New records obtained this month by the newspaper show the department's overall response time was 3.5 minutes longer on average during the three full years since Flynn's arrival compared with the three years prior. That's more than 10% longer.
In one example found by the newspaper, Milwaukee police took more than 45 minutes to get to a fatal stabbing in Riverwest in July, even though it was considered a top priority call and the caller admitted that she stabbed her boyfriend.
In another case, police took more than two hours to arrive at the scene of a fatal car crash in June on the far northwest side.
Instead of focusing on rapid response, the Police Department assigns more squad cars to proactive policing efforts in high-crime areas. Flynn said his strategy has helped reduce the city's crime rate but has acknowledged it can result in a slower response.
Police declined to respond to questions for this story.
Exasperation
Reed's frustration with the lack of police response has evolved into exasperation. His experience echoes that of more than a dozen city residents interviewed by the Journal Sentinel.
As the default neighborhood block watch captain, police encourage him to call in when he observes crime in the area. He's typically the only neighbor who calls on incidents like shooting, drug dealing, prostitution and loud parties. Most other residents fear retribution from criminals if they report crime, he said.
Reed, a Marine veteran, recently began keeping track of when he heard shots fired in his neighborhood. In September alone, he recorded half a dozen incidents. On one of those occasions, he called in the late afternoon about multiple shots fired and said he was told by a police dispatcher to stop calling.
In an incident in August, he heard more than a dozen shots fired, again near the intersection of N. 49th and W. Hadley.
He called 911 and listened to a voice recording that said he would be on hold for 15 minutes to one hour. Annoyed, he hung up and called Police District 7 to speak to an officer. While on the line with the officer, a 911 dispatcher patched in and took his call.
More than an hour later, a police squad showed up at his house and an officer wanted to know where the shooting occurred. By then, the perpetrator was gone, Reed said.
"People just don't bother calling police anymore. If crime is down at all, it's because people are not even reporting things, because police don't respond," he said.
Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello said locating the shooter on a shots fired call is often difficult, but police still must respond to those calls. Not doing so erodes trust in police service, he said.
"If I've got somebody out in the alley shooting off a gun and the police won't respond . . . you think I'm not going to consider moving out of the city?" Crivello said.
Nearby gunfire
It's the night of Oct. 7 - the Milwaukee Brewers have just won the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The fireworks around Miller Park can be heard exploding in the distance, which makes it more difficult to distinguish nearby gunfire.
Thom Reed's brother, Duke, sits at their kitchen table and chain smokes menthol cigarettes. He said he's woken up several times a week by shootings on his street.
He has given up on relying on police to respond to calls.
"Why call? Why bother?" said Duke, 53, an unemployed electrical engineer. "By the time they get here the guy is long gone, and I have to wait up two hours. What's the use? I definitely feel less safe than 10 years ago."
Thom and Duke asked that their photograph not be taken because of safety concerns.
Duke said he is weary from the constant crime and disorder in his neighborhood but doesn't have many options.
"Why do I have to move? I can't live anywhere that's cheaper. This is my neighborhood. I've been here since 1968," he said. "This is an area that should be protected constantly by the cops, and I'm not looking to move out of here."
Later in the evening, Thom, who runs an Internet business designing rare musical instruments, goes into his backyard and hears seven shots in the area of N. 50th and W. Center streets but doesn't call 911 because it's too far.
He figures police will respond to the incident. His suspicion is confirmed after a quick walk down the alley where he sees the flashing lights of a police cruiser.
A party is going on around the block, and intermittent fighting and shouting can be heard. Thom sees a young man with a gun walking through the alley.
About an hour later, he hears a single shot down the alley and knows where it came from but is worried about retaliation from drug dealers. He doesn't call police.
"This is every night around here," he said. "Someone is shooting almost every night. We don't know which ones to call in anymore."
Several days later on a weeknight, Thom calls a reporter to tell of a nearby drug house where a group of young men were fighting and a shot was fired earlier in the day.
With a tone of irritation in his voice, Thom explains how he called 911 earlier that night. Police didn't respond, so he called back about 30 minutes later and a dispatcher told him a squad car had been sent to the incident, but Thom didn't see one.
"I called the police, and nothing was done," he said. "This is the police's way of handling it. These guys around here all have guns, and nothing is being done."
