MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Bucks will host a “Bucks In Ink” flash event on Thursday, Jan. 16, from 12-2 p.m. in the atrium of Fiserv Forum. 

Bucks In Ink

What we know:

Local tattoo artists will be on site to give permanent tattoos to registered fans using artwork inspired by Bucks basketball, the city of Milwaukee and the 2025 NBA All-Star Game host city of San Francisco. 

According to a news release, the tattoos will be done by artists from Good Land Tattoo, Black Dawn Tattoo and Xolo Tattoo Studio. 

The free event builds on the Bucks’ 2025 All-Star campaign, which bridges the Bay Area to the shores of Lake Michigan through the American traditional tattoo style that originated in Milwaukee. 

Limited spots are available for the event. Interested participants must register in advance by filling out THIS FORM. 

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

What you can do:

Fans can also show support for the Bucks’ 2025 All-Star candidates by visiting the “Bucks In Ink” temporary tattoo parlor at home games through Jan. 19.

The parlor is open in Section 218 from the time doors open through halftime of each Bucks home game, including tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic. 

Voting for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game is open now through Jan. 20. Fans can vote once per day and take advantage of the remaining triple-vote days, where each vote counts as three, on Friday, Jan. 17, and Monday, Jan. 20. 

To vote or learn more about the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, visit www.bucks.com/allstar. 

What we know:

MILWAUKEE – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has proposed to open an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Milwaukee, an alderwoman announced Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Ald. Larresa Taylor, who represents Milwaukee’s 9th District, said DHS requested modifications to a building located at 11925 W. Lake Park Dr. Those modifications include adding a sally port and a chain link fence with privacy slats. A sally port would be used to transport prisoners to and from the facility.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

“I want District 9, and the rest of the city, to know that we do not support the Department of Homeland Security in their decision to move into our district, and we definitely do not support any such modifications to any building in our district (as a location to house prisoners!),” Taylor said in a statement.

What’s next:

Taylor scheduled a news conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday outside the building. She invited all organizations that will be impacted to join her, noting “Milwaukee’s 9th Aldermanic District will no longer be Wisconsin’s dumping ground for detention facilities.”

District Attorney-elect Kent Lovern has made it a priority to listen to residents on the North and South sides of Milwaukee.

“What I have heard loudly and clearly is everyone wants to feel safe, and everyone wants that safety in their daily lives, and they want that for their children,” Lovern said.

At a ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 16, Lovern will be publicly recognized in his new role. With nearly 30 years of experience as a prosecutor, he’s recognized for his collaborative approach to systemic issues.

Lovern focuses on collaborations outside his office, in part, because he believes these collaborations are necessary to sustainably reduce violence and increase public safety in Milwaukee. 

“I just feel like we need to better connect into one another and develop our own system of public safety – one that is really framed up as community development, economic development, educational development and the public safety comes with that,” he said.

Among Milwaukee’s large network of criminal justice advocates, many say they feel heard by Lovern. 

“Kent has always been thoughtful and responsive to me,” said Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, which advocates for various criminal justice initiatives as well as those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Working together

“We can’t unring the bell of a crime, right? If somebody commits a crime, like myself, they need to be prosecuted,” said Adam Procell, who coordinates the monthly resource fair Home to Stay, for formerly incarcerated individuals reentering society. “But after that time period, when somebody gets out, he (Lovern) also understands that if we don’t provide the person with an opportunity to lead an optimal lifestyle, they’re going to have to prosecute them again for another crime.”

For Lovern, people reentering have a unique ability to lead others away from crime. 

“People returning back to communities, looking to be proactive members of their community, looking for ways to help mentor young people and help instruct young people about the pitfalls and the mistakes they made – that’s a very powerful group,” he said.

Milwaukee County has the largest population of people on parole, probation or extended supervision in the state. At the end of October, nearly 13,000 people were under supervision, state correctional data show.

“On the whole, I have heard more interest in reentry across the board … than I have heard at any time in my career,” Lovern said.

Causes of crime

Lovern’s support of reentry is consistent with an overall preventive approach to crime.

He cites the relationship between drug addiction and crime as a good example.

“We’ve had a strong approach to this for some time, because right after John (Chisholm) was elected, 18 years ago, we created an early intervention unit, and that was immediately designed to offer opportunities for people to work through a criminal charge…and we’ve seen a lot of success with that.”

WISDOM, a statewide faith-based organization, wants Lovern to expand on this philosophy.

“There’s a lot of room for certainly expanding treatment alternatives to incarceration for people living with mental illness and with addiction issues, and there are many opportunities to divert more people from the system. I’m definitely optimistic that those types of programs will continue and will expand,” said Mark Rice, coordinator of WISDOM’s Wisconsin Transformational Justice Campaign.

Lovern is proud of Milwaukee’s mental health courts, which address cases involving mental health concerns, including assessments of competence and insanity pleas.

An intermediate goal the DA’s office is close to achieving, he said, is increasing the number of cases handled in these courts to 30 cases on an ongoing basis, compared to 10 cases previously. 

“Somebody might come first through the police department or to the DA ‘s office, and we may be saying, ‘Look, this person isn’t really committing criminal behavior – the bigger concern here is the mental health piece,’” said Lovern.

Current crime and safety risks

Recent data from the Milwaukee Police Department show notable declines since 2023 in violent crimes, especially homicides and non-fatal shootings, and a reduction in most property crimes. 

But certain violent crimes have increased since 2022, including robberies and carjackings.

“There’s no question that there is additional work that needs to be done to drive down the level of violent crime we see in this community,” Lovern said.

The problem, he added, is not evenly spread throughout the city.

A quarter of Milwaukee County homicides since 2023 occurred in only two ZIP codes.

“Everyone’s concerned about crime everywhere, but we know where the concentrations of violent crime exist,” said Lovern, adding that many residents in these neighborhoods tell him that we need “a strong response” to crime and that these “neighborhoods need to be valued.”

Limits of the office

Rice, of WISDOM, does not want fairness and justice to be lost, however.  

“We still in Wisconsin incarcerate Black people at one of the highest rates in the nation,” he said. “There’s a lot of discretion up front when plea bargains are reached in terms of who gets diverted from the system and who goes in.” 

Rice and others also worry about the systemic limitations of the DA’s office to address such problems.

“Jobs like the DA’s office, mayor’s office, police chief tend to be very difficult, with unforeseen pressures and inherent flaws in how they’ve been systemized over the years,” said De Torre, of Milwaukee Turners. “The real test is how a person acts and what they do within a flawed system.”