Last weekend, Wisconsinites watching the nightly news saw a story that’s become all too common in our state’s largest city: 20 were people shot in Milwaukee over the course of 18 shootings. Three were killed, including a 13-year-old girl.

Wisconsin communities are facing an epidemic of violence and crime. Last year we had more car thefts in Milwaukee than there were in Chicago – a city almost five times larger.

Protecting our communities isn’t difficult. It’s common sense. We don’t need to look hard to see the tragic impact of left-wing crime policies.

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Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison Wisconsin. (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Wisconsin is home to the Waukesha Christmas Parade Massacre, where a career criminal and repeat violent offender mowed down a crowd killing six and injuring scores more after being let out on only $1,000 bail. Families were torn apart, and a child died in front of his parents — all because a “woke” prosecutor refused to uphold his oath to serve and protect.

While radical leftists in the judicial system have coddled criminals, some good actors are fighting back. Last week, a 10-year-old girl in Chippewa Falls, Wis., was murdered. The judge actually did the right thing by holding the accused behind bars with $1 million in bond at the prosecutor’s request. In defense of the high bail, both the judge and the prosecutor gave the same rationale: the community’s safety. Their top concern was protecting their community. While that may strike you as common logic, it is unfortunately becoming less and less common.

Conservatives need to do everything we can to hold these irresponsible liberals who use their positions to put our communities at risk accountable. We must institute mandatory minimum bails and sentences so that the bad guys stay behind bars. Tragedies like Waukesha should never happen again. Soft on crime, liberal district attorneys like the one who let out the monster who killed people in Waukesha should be sent packing.

We also need to crack down on crime before it happens. In Wisconsin, we need at least 1,000 new cops to increase law enforcement’s presence in our communities. States like Georgia have seen the benefits of using their state police forces as reinforcements for local police. Other states should follow suit by surging state police resources to high crime areas so that there are enough boots on the ground right now.

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Liberal politicians have demonized the brave men and women of law enforcement. As a result, the cops I talk to feel that morale is at an all-time low. How could it not be low when a revolving door allows offenders to stay on our streets committing violent crimes instead of in jail? But the Democrats ignore the problems. Governor Evers even vetoed a bill that would lock up known criminals committing acts of violence while on probation.

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When President Trump was visiting Kenosha after the riots of 2020, he said, “Some people think those are two terrible words—law and order—and they’re not terrible at all, they’re beautiful.” He’s right. In Kenosha, an absence of law and order left businesses burning, lives destroyed, and a community reeling. Liberal leaders didn’t care – it took our own governor four days to even visit.

The story of lawlessness is heard all across the country. Democrats don’t have the backbone to stand up to the fringes of their party to fix this mess. But Republican governors can offer a clear, concise vision this fall to fix our streets and keep our neighborhoods safe.