Established in January 2005 under the leadership of key elected and appointed officials, the
Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission (MHRC) has been a central component of the City
of Milwaukee’s violence prevention efforts. Drawing on public health and criminal justice
approaches, the Commission was designed to achieve the following goals:
1. Gain a better understanding of homicide through strategic problem analysis.
2. Develop innovative and effective responses and prevention strategies.
3. Help focus available prevention and intervention resources.
A key assumption underlying the work of the MHRC is that homicides are preventable.
With over a decade of collaboration and coordination, the MHRC strives to reduce homicides
and non-fatal shootings through a multilevel, multidisciplinary, and multiagency homicide
review process which includes independent data collection, analysis, and interpretation;
case review and recommendations; and systems and policy change. At each review, partners
participate in an intensive discussion and examination of homicide and nonfatal shooting
incidents. The process (1) identifies trends, gaps, assets, and deficits within the existing
systems, policies, practices, and programs designed to prevent and reduce violence and
(2) produces recommendations to strengthen those trends, gaps, assets, and deficits.
