Safety and Civic Commission.
Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 320-27
in effect320-27. Safety and Civic Commission.
1. CREATION. There is created a safety and civic commission comprised of the following:
a. Three members appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the common council. These members shall be appointed to a three-year term.
b. Fifteen members, one appointed by the alderman or alderwoman of each aldermanic district who is a resident of that aldermanic district, subject to confirmation by the common council. Initially, members from districts 1 through 3 shall be appointed to a three-year term; members from districts 4 through 9 shall be appointed to a two-year term; and members from districts 10 through 15 shall be appointed to a one-year term. Subsequent appointments and reappointments shall be for three-year terms.
2. OFFICERS. The safety and civic commission shall annually select from among its members a chair, vice-chair, and secretary. It shall be the duty of the secretary to call meetings of the commission, to keep minutes of its meetings and accounts, and to advise city officials as to the work and recommendations of the commission.
3. POWERS AND DUTIES.
a. General. a-1. It shall be the duty of the safety and civic commission to investigate, advise, and report to the mayor, common council, police department, commissioner of public works, and other city officials concerning the best methods of providing for the safety of the public and addressing civic matters of city-wide concern and to give the greatest possible publicity to these matters to educate the public. The goal of the safety and civic commission shall be to improve the quality of life in Milwaukee by improving safety and addressing citywide problems through effective, targeted public education and public information efforts to achieve behavior modification to lift the community as a whole. The matters under the purview of the commission shall include, but not be limited to, traffic safety for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles, reducing the demand for drugs, raising educational achievement, raising school attendance and graduation rates, addressing parenting, reducing littering, water safety, fire safety and firearm safety, accidental poisoning, and other such topics that affect the health of the city.
a-2. The commission is authorized to establish advisory committees to assist the commission in carrying out its duties.
b. Crossing Guards. The commission shall establish standards for and hold public hearings on the placement of school crossing guards.
c. Coordination. The commission shall be responsible for the coordination of citywide cooperative public safety and civic actions involving public and private agencies and organizations.
d. Report. Each year, and with the assistance of the police department and department of public works, the commission shall prepare and submit to the common council 3 reports:
d-1. A report on motor vehicle traffic accident trends. This report shall include, but not be limited to, comprehensive accident data, a narrative interpreting the data and a listing of the locations of all traffic fatalities.
d-2. A report containing data, including tables, charts or maps, highlighting locations with high accident frequencies in the previous calendar year.
d-3. A report summarizing the status of the matters the safety and civic commission has the responsibility under par. a to review. The reports shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations on appropriate actions necessary or advisable to be taken by the various departments, boards, commissions or agencies or by the mayor and common council on issues or to reduce the rates of accident occurrences, and comparisons and analyses of citywide public actions over time to determine the extent of progress being made to alleviate all matters considered.
4. ADVISORS. The safety and civic commission may appoint up to 10 advisors to the safety and civic commission who may speak at meetings but shall not be voting members. Advisors shall represent agencies with input valuable to the work of the safety and civic commission, such as police, fire, traffic engineering, public schools, pupil transportation, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, or other related agencies.
5. SUPPORT STAFF. The safety division of the Milwaukee police department shall provide administrative and professional support to the commission. The commission shall provide guidance and direction to the staff.
6. OPERATIONS. a. Bylaws. The commission shall establish bylaws and shall convene meetings at city hall.
7. HIGHWAY SAFETY COORDINATOR. The highway safety coordinator appointed by the mayor pursuant to s. 62.135, Wis. Stats., shall attend all meetings of the safety and civic commission.
Source: City of Milwaukee Legislative Reference Bureau, Milwaukee City Charter and Code of Ordinances (city.milwaukee.gov master PDFs)URL: https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccClerk/Ordinances/Volume-3/CH320.pdf#page=28Fetched: 10/26/2026