An Award for Vision and Hope

One Shorewood resident is being recognized for being at the forefront of violent crime prevention for half a decade.

A beacon of dedication and tireless effort, Mallory O'Brien has headed up the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission as its director since 2004, and is being recognized for her work.

She is the newest recipient of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA).

“I’m really excited about the award,” O’Brien said. “I really don’t know who nominated me as I work with so many community groups.”

The award was created in 1990 as a way to honor individuals and organizations for their efforts in combating crime, terrorism, drugs and violence in America.

O’Brien will join other honorees nominated by field offices across the nation at a special ceremony at FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C., March 25.

“I think there is hope for decreasing violent communities,” O’Brien said. “We’ve made nearly 300 recommendations towards intervention, suppression... made great strides and I expect even more. "

Originally moving to Shorewood in 1994, O’Brien lives with her husband, Chris Liegel, and two children.

They did move to La Crosse — but only to return to Shorewood. 

Liegel is an attorney with the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.

“He’s really a wonderful prosecutor,” O’Brien said.

In Milwaukee, O’Brien has led the development, implementation and evaluation of the Homicide Review Commission since July 2004, when it was just an experiment.

“It had never been done anywhere... I was a little cautious as I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew," O'Brien said.

The commission’s research helps identify potential areas where negative and potentially dangerous activity may occur. Her staff collect data about crimes and those findings may lead to eventual prevention, or at the very least, a reduction in violent crimes and homicides.

“A lot of work I’m involved in is directly related to the criminal justice system,” O’Brien said. “We seem to see the same scenarios on different days."

She has also served as a consultant to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System. She added homicides related to drugs and gang activity have been decreasing but the scenes are all too familiar.  

“Many of the suspects and victims have dropped out of high school and they have no way to make a living, so they’re slinging dope on the corner,” O’Brien said. 

“The goal of what we do is to look for opportunities for prevention and intervention,” O’Brien said. “We take a comprehensive look and we’re one of the few that do this across the country."

A math major in college, O’Brien had a desire to go into nursing, a seemingly incongruous beginning for someone who ended up investigating homicides. 

“I always liked math,” she said. “Problem solving is something I always enjoyed.”  

Only now, she solves problems of a different nature.

“If you can identify a problem, you can come up with solutions, and we’ve been successful in doing that.”