GREEN BAY - Over 20 people across several neighborhoods crowded the Green Bay Police Department lobby on Friday, hoping their questions about gun violence on their streets would be addressed by Mayor Eric Genrich andPolice Chief Chris Davis.
None of the residents wasadmitted entry, but they remained gathered in the lobby during apress conference the chief and mayor scheduled for the media.
"Green Bay wants the public to think that we're some quaint, quiet city in northeast Wisconsin," said David Werley, a spokesperson for the Hubbard Neighborhood Alliance, newly formed after three separate shootings took place over the course of one week on the 800 block of Hubbard Street. "We've got some real problems here."
Thursday evening saw seven shootings across the city, with one taking place on the Hubbard Street block, where a home was struck by a bullet and 14 shell casings were recovered at the crime scene.The Green Bay policearrestedthree people early Friday in connection with the overnight shootings.
At 2 p.m. Friday, police arrested three more people on the west side of Green Bay after police tried to stop a vehicle that they believe was used in the shootings. A short chase ensued and three people were arrested and police say they found two handgunsplus drugs inside the car.
In the last 24 hours, six people connected to recent shootings have been arrested.
RELATED:3 people arrested as Green Bay police investigate seven shootings Thursday night, early Friday; no injuries reported
RELATED:Victim identified in Sunday morning's fatal shooting at Green Bay Marathon station
RELATED:A man and woman were found dead of gunshot wounds in an apparent murder-suicide in a garage in Ashwaubenon
Over the past 11 months, gun violence cases have goneup about 25% across Green Bay since last year, according to a report released Friday by the police department. The 79 reports of gunfire involved 10 injuries, two deaths and 478 rounds of ammunition. By contrast, 2020 saw 58reports of gunfire, 14 injuries, five deaths and 242 rounds of ammunition.
The report was presented at Friday'spress conference as Davis, who is three months into his tenure as chief, discussed the Green Bay Police Department's action plan moving forward.Genrich sought to assure members of the public that the uptick in shootings is not representative of Green Bayas a community.
The city created a Neighborhood Response Team to address gun violence in the form of a dedicated patrol base resource, the chief and mayor said. Additionally, the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform will begin an assessment with the city in January to develop long-term preventative solutions.
"One of the things that we want to do with (the Neighborhood Response Team) is have some community input into what that patrol base response looks like," Davis said. "We will be asking very soon for some stakeholder input from the community to help inform their work and make sure that both community stakeholders and our police officers have a shared understanding of what the drivers are of this problem."
Davis emphasized that what he and his team will not be doing is "simplifying what is a complex problem," meaning that the uptick in gun violence is not a problem of people coming from other cities nor is it something that can be explained asgang violence.
While Davis confirmed that some of the incidents are connected, he said it's too early to say whether Thursday's seven incidents have any through-line. And when someone presented the question of gang violence directly, Davis said this thinking, too, would be an oversimplification.
"What it means to be gang-affiliated these days is different than the traditional concept from the '80s and '90s," Davis said. "We deal with some people in these situations who identify themselves as members of one gang or another, but a lot of people don't. Maybe there's some peripheral association, but I think it's an oversimplification to say it's gang-related."
Davis concluded his section of the discussion on an anecdote. He received an email last night from a concerned resident. The message was short but effective: "Please stop the shootings in my neighborhood."
Davis and Genrich painted the state of the city as strong and safe. They wanted to make it clear that the recent events scoring the city's safe reputation are "not normal."
Genrich said that $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars are being allocated for gun violence prevention, of the $2 million reserved for crime prevention and neighborhood enhancement. Some technology the city has already invested inincludes aNational Integrated Ballistic Information Network machine, which enables law enforcement officers to determine whether ballistic evidence from a crime scene is connected with a firearm used in other crimes.
The City Council's Finance Committee on Tuesday will meet to approve spending related to gun violence prevention in Green Bay. Davis has already requested gunshot detection, Genrich said, and the city plans to spend moremoney on recruitment and retention of police officers.
'This is not something we will police our way out of'
Davis made it clear that the police department needs help from the community in the form of crime stoppersand calls to the police. Statistically, gunfire incidents are underreported, he said, and he encouraged residents to report any incident involving weapons.
"This is notsomethingwe will police our way out of. It's really important for us to know when these (incidents) happen, sowe're able to respond, look for evidence and again keep trying to piece together this bigger picture of what is happening between these groups and the social networks and dynamics that are causing this situation," Davis said.
He said the police department is committed to handling gun violence "the right way." Davis cautioned that, while there's a long history of police departments across the United States casting "a wide net" to round up and arrestsuspects, such techniques cause more harm than good.
Racial profiling, stop-and-frisk and other draconian measures will not be the way to solve this problem, he said.
"We want to focus our resources on the actual problem and be really aware of the equity impact of the work that we do," Davis said. "We have to follow the law and the Constitution, which upholds people's rights, which we're always committed to do at the Green Bay Police Department."
Davis said Green Bay is not alone in a recent increase in shootings: "I would characterize a lot of what we're seeing as the local manifestation of a larger national problem with gun violence."
The police department's map of shootings this year suggested there is no clearpattern implicating just a few neighborhoods. While many members of the community suspect there are gun-wielding sources coming from outside of Green Bay, Davis said that misconception only adds to the problem of oversimplification.
"There's always this tendency to want to simplify something that is a very complex problem," Davis said."It'sneither a completely homegrown problem nor something that's coming from outside."
Of the first three people arrested, two are fromGreen Bay and one is fromMilwaukee. The police did not provide residences of the three people arrested Friday afternoon.
'This needs to be addressed'
Since the summer of 2020, in the heat of the George Floyd protests, the city of Green Bay began to do serious work in police reform, according to Amaad Rivera, the mayor's chief of staff. Early permutations of the Neighborhood Response Team kicked off then as the city negotiated with the police union to create the new unit.
Davis said that, in addition to sworn-in officers, crime prevention specialists and crime analysts can make a big difference in terms of impact. He emphasized, too, that community stakeholders will offer on-the-ground insights into addressing the problem.
City Council member Brian Johnson, who is involved in proposing a gun violence prevention task force group, called the situationin his district, where gun violence on Hubbard Street took place, a "very serious situation that needs a swift and immediate response."
"Nobody should have to feel unsafe in their community and in their homes. I absolutely empathize with the residents of that area," Johnson said."We have to understand that if this wasany one of our neighborhoods we would absolutely feel that same sense of urgency, and I think as elected officials, we have to react with that same level of swiftness and promptness as though it were ourneighborhood."
Council member Mark Steuer, present at Friday's press conference along with council members Jesse Brunette and Lynn Gerlach, said that he and Davis will meet to discuss a community event in his district next week.
After the meeting, Steuer spoke with people who lingered in the police departmentlobbythe extent of the hourlong press conference. Many represented the Hubbard Neighborhood Alliance but told a Green Bay Press-Gazette reporter they wantedto remain anonymous out of fear of retribution.
Werley, the spokesperson for the neighborhood group, said that families are scared. Gunshots were fired around 7:30p.m. Thursday near homes where young children live.
Werley, who has drafted letters to the police department, the mayor's office and the cityhousing authority, doesn't think enough is being done to address this block's fears.
Although none of the shootings Thursday was known to result in injuries,"it's just a matter of time before a 4-year-old is dropped dead," Werley said.
"This needs to be addressed," he said. "This press conference today, I view it as helpful because now we have these city officialsacknowledging that Green Bay has problems. With these vague solutions, I hope the focus on this doesn't go away."
MORE:'It's their job to listen': Anti-fluoride activists file ethics complaint against Green Bay mayor, council members
MORE:Should Green Bay spend $100,000 on a rebranding initiative? Most of the City Council thinks so.
MORE:Green Bay hospital forced to turn away 28 patients as hospitals across state remain overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases
Natalie Eilbert isa government watchdog reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You canreach her atneilbert@gannett.comor view her Twitter profile at@natalie_eilbert.
