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Health & Fitness

High Security Zones in Shorewood and Whitefish Bay

Whitefish Bay and Shorewood position stationary police cars instead of patrolling.

To the best of my knowledge I don't believe there have been any news stories or press releases about the High Security Zones in Shorewood and Whitefish Bay.

Perhaps they have been created by Homeland Security under the auspices of the Patriot Act? Then of course, they would be top secret and the existence of them would not be confirmed or denied.

But to the astute observer, they are there and for real.

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The High Security Zone that seems to be manned the most often is the one on Wilson Drive, right at the border between Whitefish Bay and Shorewood.

Sometimes it is a marked car, and sometimes it is the plain wrapper variety.

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In either case, the police vehicle is positioned on either the east or west side of Wilson, and has approximately a 2 tenths of a mile line of vision on Whitefish Bay's section of Wilson, before curves obstruct the officer's vision.

Undoubtedly this is the safest and most secure area in Whitefish Bay. I would gladly make book that there has never been an armed holdup or a house burglarized in the 2 tenths of a mile High Security Zone, when an officer is present.

It is unfortunate that the High Security Zone keeps a police car in such a stationary position, so the officer is unable to patrol the rest of Whitefish Bay.  And more unfortunate that so many of the homes being burglarized are usually on the side streets.

Oh well, so much for community policing, and for taking a pro-active approach to patrolling neighborhoods and making a police presence known where the homes are broken into. I guess it is just a price we have to pay for Homeland Security.

Shorewood, not to be outdone, has an even more intensive High Security Zone.

Quite often there is a police car in the old Riverbrook restaurant parking lot, facing west towards the river, and Shorewood's border.

I would guess that the officer positioned there has about 300 yards of Shorewood under intense scrutiny. 

There don't happen to be any homes in that 300 yards of Shorewood — but woe to any armed robber who attempts to ply his trade within that High Security Zone, when SPD has it under surveillance.

Again, it is unfortunate that police resources have to be confined to such a small area — too bad they cannot be patrolling on Oakland or Capitol with its intense traffic volumes and pedestrian crossings — or the side streets where the burglars break into homes.

The good news is that if you would like to take a stroll in either Whitefish Bay or Shorewood — you know where you will be the safest to do so — a 2 tenths of a mile stretch in Whitefish Bay on Wilson, or 300 yards on the western border of Shorewood.

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