Milwaukee police release numbers showing property crime is up in 2020

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Stanley Davis lives at the corner of Chambers and Pierce streets in the Riverwest neighborhood. He catches all the action on his surveillance cameras, including people stealing from cars.

Davis released video to CBS 58 showing two people stealing a car early Saturday morning, Dec 5, just before 5 a.m.

“We saw the people drive up in three vehicles, they parked, they kind of looked around and they went to the vehicle, broke in it and stole," Davis said. "There’s been numerous cars that have been broken into on the street in front here and the side.”

Numbers show that property crime is up in Milwaukee. From Jan. 1 through Dec. 6, there were 376 more car thefts compared to the same time period in 2019. Police report 433 more cases of thefts from cars this year. There were also 128 more thefts overall in the city.

“It’s getting really bad lately," Davis said. 

Lori Riegler is a dog-sitter. Her car was stolen last week, along with all her work gear.

“It’s a huge inconvenience. I had to replace everything," she said. “I have a $500 deductible so right around Christmas, this is not what I wanted to be dealing with. I don’t really have the finances to cover it.”

As for Davis, he says the property crime trend may be due to the pandemic.

“With all this COVID stuff going on, nobody’s got anything to do and I hate to say it, but they are doing it for fun.”

Neighbors tell CBS 58 that their Riverwest Neighborhood Facebook group helps a lot. They share photos, videos and information in hopes it will help police.