Green Bay Reporter

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich said in a recent social media post that he's pleased with a recent city finance committee recommendation that almost $1 million be allocated to support law enforcement efforts to stem gun violence.

Genrich's Tuesday, Dec. 14 Twitter post lauded the committee's approval of Green Bay Police Department's request for an estimated $971,358 for crime prevention and neighborhood enhancement. The finance committee's recommendation is now pending City Common Council's approval during their next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

"Glad to see unanimous support from the committee for the proposals we’ve put forward," Genrich said in his Twitter post. "These investments are critical pieces of our plan to enhance community safety. But there’s more to be done. Stay tuned for details on our work with the @NICJR01  to stop violence before it starts."

Genrich's Twitter post linked to a Green Bay Press Gazette news story about the finance committee's recommendation.

"I fully support these proposals," city Common Council Member Brian Johnson said in the news story. "Obviously this is a critical need in our community to give to our police department the resources that are necessary to solve what I think is one of the greatest crises facing our community."

Wisconsin ranks 34th for gun violence in the U.S. and each year gun-related injuries and deaths cost the state around $4 billion, according to an EveryTown for Gun Safety study issued in January.

CNN reported in September that 2021 likely will be the worst gun violence year that the U.S. has experienced in, with almost 15,000 people killed by guns by Sept. 15, including 498 mass shootings that killed or injured four or more. The almost 15,000 killed was 9% increase over the same period in 2020, according to the CNN report.

Reported incidents of shots fired have been increasing in Green Bay over the several years, 18 reported in 2018 to 79 so far this year, Fox 11 News said in a Friday, Dec. 10 news story.

In response to that increase, Green Bay Police Department will increase police presence and form neighborhood response teams, but success will require that local law enforcement gets buy-in from the area communities.

"It's not something we can police our way out of," Police Chief Chris Davis said in the Fox news story.

Members of the community need to step up when they hear gunshots in their neighborhood but to also know when to call the police, Davis said.

"It's pretty apparent to people when there are gunshots in their neighborhood, so we want them to call us for that," he said. "What we're not asking people to do is just if you see somebody you don’t recognize in your neighborhood or something like that to call the police because that's really not the solution to this problem."