WASHINGTON – Today, the US Senate approved Senator Herb Kohl's request to direct $850,000 toward crime prevention projects in Southeastern Wisconsin as part of the FY10 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Kohl is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and had identified these projects as priorities for funding.  

"There are many different approaches to crime prevention but providing funding for programs such as Milwaukee's Summer Stars Program and upgrading technology for the Milwaukee Police Department are essential in the fight against crime," Kohl said. 

The funds secured by Kohl include:

$550,000 for Milwaukee Police Department Technology Solutions - The Milwaukee Police Department seeks technology enhancements that will allow them to increase productivity and modernize administrative functions, ultimately getting more officers out on patrol and in the community. Funds for fingerprint stations, which are critical to the daily operations of the department, will replace two obsolete technologies. Additionally, the department will replace antiquated paper-based personnel record systems. 

$200,000 for Milwaukee Summer Stars Program - Administered by the Division of Community Recreation for Milwaukee Public Schools, the Summer Stars program collaborates with local law enforcement to operate eight-week recreational and educational summer sessions and the Prime Time school-year program for at-risk teens ages 13 to 17. Summer Stars promotes positive life choices and social development with counseling, guidance for drug/alcohol issues, and vocational planning. This program works to help teens find positive ways to spend their summer school break and strives to reduce juvenile crime rates. The success of the program is demonstrated by annual reductions in youth related offensives, as reported by the Milwaukee Police Department. 

$100,000 for City of Racine License Plate Recognition Cameras - This project will provide the City of Racine with four Automatic License Plate Recognition cameras on police patrol cars. The system captures digital images of virtually every license plate within view of the patrol car, moving or stationary. The license plates are then instantaneously compared to a variety of databases. The officer operating the system is immediately notified of any irregularities and is able take appropriate actions. These cameras will reduce the amount of time officers spend investigating crimes so that they can spend more time patrolling Racine's streets and neighborhoods. The Racine Police Department regularly participates in multi-jurisdictional law and traffic enforcement projects, so surrounding jurisdictions will benefit from the use of this equipment as well. 

The funding measure was passed by the Senate, and now goes to the President for final approval. 

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