GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — The Green Bay Common Council approved an extension of Mayor Eric Genrich’s curfew order during their Tuesday night council meeting.
District 4 Alderman Bill Galvin voted yes, saying that although police handled Sunday night’s violent protests well, the curfew discourages things from getting out of hand.
“Although Green Bay seems like a large city, it doesn’t have a large police department,” Galvin told WTAQ. “It doesn’t have the capabilities for crowd control situations…we don’t have enough officers on hand to be able to respond effectively to prevent things from becoming violent and destructive.”
Galvin is a retired Green Bay police officer.
It was hardly a unanimous decision. Eight council members voted yes, while four voted no. District 9 Alderman Brian Johnson was among them.
“It sure seems at least when you look at the last two nights and that threat has subsided,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I always feel it’s important to preserve the rights of our public, including protesters, as quickly as possible.”
Johnson was joined by Alders Chris Wery, Mark Steuer, and Veronica Corpus-Dax.
The curfew will be in place between 9am and 6am until Monday morning. The curfew was set after protests over the death of George Floyd turned violent on Sunday in Green Bay.
