Acting Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson focused on crime in his pre-produced State of the City Address on Monday, Feb. 7, just eight days before the mayoral primary.
"Public safety stands as the greatest challenge to our success," said Johnson in the video recorded at the Milwaukee Public Library Martin Luther King Branch. "For two consecutive years, Milwaukee has endured homicide statistics we have never seen before. And, let’s be clear; these are not numbers, they are people. People with families and friends. People whose deaths leave emotional scars on our city," Johnson said. 2020 and then 2021 set the city's homicide records and 2022 is off to a bloody start. The 25 homicides so far this year represents a 79% increase from the same time last year.