Clarke blathers on, but he has cut deputies on the streets by 66% since he took over. Less than 2% of all criminal prosecutions in Milwaukee County come from the Sheriffs Office. Clarke is all talk and no action.
The problem with the DA is lower level crimes continue to be plead to an ordinance violation. Disorderly Conduct for example. Instead of having a violator spend 3 months imprisoned and paying a huge fine [thousands] that state statute calls for, they plead it down to a ticket and a $250 fine. The violator suffers little consequence for his actions and keeps going in/out of the system until he graduates to more serious crimes of armed robbery, battery, murder, etc.. Charging/convicting for the state crimes would cost more up front, but in the long run it would actually save tax payers money.
The second problem are the judges that sit on the bench. When these criminals do get charged with crimes they get lenient sentences instead of getting hammered with time that means something. These thugs then go in and out of the system until they graduate to more serious crimes and useless door knobs like Barrett blame inanimate objects. It's a vicious, vicious circle that would be funny if it weren't so horrifying.