GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — There’s been a major uptick in violent crime in Green Bay this year.
Police Commander Kevin Warych says there’s been a notable increase in violent crime since March, and they’re not sure why.
“We are seeing numbers and statistics that we’ve never seen before,” Warych told WTAQ. “It could be a million things. The drug trade, to fuel an addiction, it could be relationships, it could be a domestic thing, it could be that people just don’t like each other. There’s not just one single reason why these events are occurring.”
The most recent spat of violence in Green Bay happened over the weekend, when police responded to not one, not two, but eight separate shootings over a six day period.
“In my experience, we’ve never seen that before,” said Warych. “One shooting is concerning. One shooting causes fear and anxiety in any neighborhood.”
One person was hurt during the last week’s violence. Warych says it could have been a lot worse.
“We were lucky,” he said. “When there’s gunfire in a residential area, there are innocent people at risk, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent.”
To clamp down on the violence, police are asking for as much community assistance as possible.
“If you see something, say something,” Warych said.
It’s the people who aren’t saying something that have caused a problem for police investigators. Warych says detectives have run into issues when interviewing witnesses and potential suspects–they’re not being particularly forthcoming.
“People involved in these shootings are not being very cooperative,” he added. “They’re not providing information as to why the situation occurred or the people involved, and that makes our job much more difficult.”
If you have any information regarding any criminal activity over the past week, contact Green Bay Police.
Comments