MILWAUKEE — Community leaders in Milwaukee are looking for ways to curb the increase in violence that comes with warmer months.
Several shootings happened Friday, and the night ended with simultaneous officer-involved shootings on Milwaukee’s south side. Milwaukee Police say they started with “celebratory gunfire”.
Caroline Gomez-Tom was recently elected as the District 14 County Board Supervisor. She oversees the area of the officer-involved shootings, near Cesar Chavez and Scott.
“Once people are out, and if there’s not an investment in our community that can provide alternatives, people are going to look for other things to do. Unfortunately, it looks like violence,” Gomez-Tom explained.
During the summer, violent crimes increase. After Friday night’s violence, community leaders are looking for ways to stop that trend.
One of those leaders is Vaun Mayes, a community activist. On Saturday morning, he spoke with the group Running Rebels and representatives from Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) to address solutions to violence. He is working to bring back lock-in events for the youth, among other collaborative events.
“Be present. We have to have things in place to be more preventative and interruptive, than reactive to what we saw. There needs to be things in place where we can gather in safe places,” Mayes said.
Both Mayes and Gomez-Tom said the city needs more spaces and events for people to gather.
“If we're gonna have a Cinco de Mayo festival, we should create spaces where people can come together in a controlled environment to have fun, engage, and enjoy themselves,” Mayes said.
According to Milwaukee Police, this year, there have been 237 non-fatal shootings. That’s a similar level to 2022.
“We shouldn’t be stalled by this idea that violence is everywhere in our community. Yes, it happens in all cities and all communities. But, by participating in our city and taking part in events, that pushes violence out of community,” Gomez-Tom explained.
Both leaders also emphasized the need for personal responsibility.
“You can be that voice to tell somebody ‘don’t do that’ or ‘get out of there’,” Mayes said.
Gomez-Tom also brought up the need for better gun education.
“I don’t want anyone to be in the line of a gun,” Gomez-Tom said.
“It needs to be a conversation we keep having within our communities to show we can avoid these types of incidents in the community," Gomez-Tom said.
Forward Latino and the 80% Coalition are hosting an emergency gun violence summit on May 25. The event is free and welcome for all.
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