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Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn considers University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students who rent east side apartments and duplexes "guests" -- not residents -- because they don't own property or directly contribute to the tax base, according to a letter the chief sent last month to a top UWM administrator about a police crackdown on drunken, disruptive student behavior in the neighborhood.

Flynn also defended the month-long increased police presence on the east side that has led to more than 100 arrests in his letter to UWM Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Michael Laliberte, which the Student Association provided to the UWM Post student newspaper.

“Unfortunately, the disorder and criminal damage that results from unruly students seems to be escalating,” Flynn wrote in the letter dated Sept. 21. “It appears our strict enforcement and new practice of taking violators into custody are the strategies that have the greatest impact on the disorder.

“I view your students as ‘guests,’ since most do not own property in Milwaukee and they do not directly contribute to the tax base,” the chief continued. “As guests, they should be exhibiting appropriate conduct.”

Students and a university spokesman begged to differ with the chief's characterization of student renters as guests, according to a story The UWM Post published this week by managing editor Steve Garrison.

"Students are just as much citizens of the city of Milwaukee as property owners," spokesman Tom Luljak told The UWM Post. “Our students contribute directly to the health and vitality of the city.”

Luljak pointed out that although students may not directly pay property taxes, a portion of their rent does go toward property taxes that landlords pay. Students also work in the community and volunteer at local charities and nonprofits, he said.

Flynn himself rents an apartment in Milwaukee, though not in the UWM neighborhood, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

UWM has a $25,000 annual contract with the Milwaukee Police Department, spread over the fall and spring semesters, to occasionally cover overtime pay for a couple extra police squads in the UWM neighborhood on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Luljak told the Journal Sentinel.

That way, Luljak said, the police department isn't leaving any part of the city uncovered while patrolling UWM neighborhoods.

The extra patrols are intended to both monitor student behavior off-campus and to help protect students from crimes such as robbery, assault and burglary, Luljak said.

"We make it clear it isn't a crackdown on house parties per se, but for student safety," he said.

You can read the whole UWM Post story, including Flynn's letter, by clicking here.

Gina Barton of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.