OPERATION SUMMER GUARDIAN WILL COMMENCE ON the weekend of "TBD" in 2026.
The Milwaukee Police Department conducted a summer policing initiative from May 15th, 2025 to September 28th, 2025 known as Operation Summer Guardian. This was the fourth year of this initiative, and involved lessons learned from the previous years. MPD Districts 1-5 and District 7 were designated as the deployment districts. Operation Summer Guardian continued its focus on positive interactions with neighborhood residents and a collaborative effort with community partners. We know based on specific incidents from the previous Operation Summer Guardian that citizens were very appreciative of just the mere presence of the officers in their neighborhoods. One of the methods we continued to use was the "Park, Walk and Talk." The additional presence strengthened relationships between the police and the community, and discouraged loitering, curfew violations, illegal gambling and other quality of life issues.
Operation Summer Guardian continued to promote the Mission and Vision of the Milwaukee Police Department.
MISSION:
By using effective community engagement, we will impact crime, help build sustainable neighborhoods and foster positive community relations.
Vision:
To be a department where every member works with our community to help build sustainable healthy neighborhoods, free of crime and maintained by positive relationships.
Objective:
To effectively deploy uniformed personnel throughout identified geographical areas which are experiencing high volumes of shots fired (Shot-Spotter) and violent crime. Said deployments are based on statistical data generated from Crime Analysts, Intelligence Fusion Center, Office of Management Analysis & Planning and District Commanders.
PRE-DEPLOYMENT EXECUTION:
MPD messages our community partners and communicates through social media and with a press releases involving our joint systems partners, prior to deployments beginning.
A community survey, pre-survey and post survey are assembled by OMAP and are sent to our partners by the MPD Community Engagement Manager prior to commencement and at the end of the operation.
A pre-deployment survey of officers is developed by Executive Command and is distributed by OMAP to the Summer Guardian participating officers of SID, TEU, and the respective district Violent Crime Reduction units. At the conclusion of Summer Guardian, those officers are surveyed once again regarding the effectiveness of the operation.
OMAP provides the pre-deployment analysis of violent crimes to include ShotSpotter activity, non-fatal shootings, homicides and shots fired calls for service, then utilizes that information to determine deployment zones, considering available resources.
MPD consulted with our research partners at the Medical College of Wisconsin regarding Summer Guardian 2023-2024. Consideration was given to the feedback received. Many of the recommendations were included in the 2025 plan.
The recommendations included but are not limited to the following:
Additional examples of positive interactions. Collecting additional detail on those interactions would be beneficial and would help to supplement the information collected through the surveys of both agency and community members.
EXECUTION:
Operation Summer Guardian commenced May 15th, 2025 and concluded on September 28th, 2025. There were 78 deployments of 2025 Operation Summer Guardian. The deployments took place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays, with hours of operation taking place between 7:00 a.m., - 07:00 p.m. In August of 2025 an additional District (District 1) was added to the deployment with deployment hours of 10:00 p.m., - 3:00 a.m.
RESULTS:
It is important to note that the number of traffic stops, field interviews (terry stop), no-action encounters, frisks and/or searches were not used as a performance indicator or in any way to evaluate performance. Summer Guardian deployed officers were not actively looking for curfew violations and parental responsibility violations, however, when conducting investigations, if those violations were found, they were addressed.
The following arrests and recoveries were made by 2025 Operation Summer Guardian deployed officers during the 78 deployments:
In order to be successful, we need your help. If there is an emergency, immediately call 911. Anyone with any information regarding any crime is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips App.
Milwaukee Area Guide to Community Resources
