Milwaukee's Public Safety Committee on Monday held the final in a series of special meetings aimed at reducing crime across the city.
As in previous meetings, featuring visits from the police chief, the sheriff, and the district attorney, the line item on the agenda was discussion relating to crime, fear, and disorder in the city.
Representatives from the Milwaukee Health Department, which oversees the Office of Violence Prevention, said it's important to treat violence as a public health issue.
They credited such an approach with reducing juvenile crime in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by 40 percent in just two years.
One way the OVP is working to reduce violence in Milwaukee is through its Trauma Response Initiative, said Reggie Moore, Director of the Office of Violence Prevention.
Moore said that under the program, police officers responding to crime scenes take note of any children who are present. Health officials then follow up with those kids.
"When we talk about PTSD, even with soldiers, what young people are seeing and experiencing in their homes, in this community, it's critical that we deal with the psychological and mental health impacts of that if we're going to break the cycle of violence," Moore said.
"A lot of the young people who've been involved in carjackings, or other violent crimes in this community, they have experienced a significant level of trauma themselves," he said.
The Trauma Response Initiative is currently exclusive to Milwaukee Police District Seven, but Moore said the hope is to soon expand it to District Five.
Moore also spoke about the OVP's Safe Zones Initiative, which was launched last year and is currently operating in the Garden Homes and Franklin Heights neighborhoods.
He said the Safe Zones Initiative involves paid ambassadors -- there are currently 12 of them -- making contact with the residents in areas plagued by crime and helping to provide violence intervention/interruption and other wraparound health services there.
Health professionals from Milwaukee County, including Director of Health and Human Services Hector Colon, also presented to, and took questions from, committee members.
Colon said people with mental illness are often the victims of crimes. He said partnerships between the county and law enforcement, private hospitals, advocacy groups and policy makers have helped to provide better services to people with mental health issues living in Milwaukee County.
He said the county has invested roughly $20 million into crisis services, recovery services, peer run services, and providing stable housing. Colon said all of that is helping people struggling with mental illness, and credited such services with a 50% reduction of inpatient admissions, 34% reduction in emergency room detentions, and 24% reduction in emergency room visits at area hospitals.
Public Safety Committee Chairman Bob Donovan said the goal of the special meetings on crime was for the information gathered to help the committee eventually put forward an action plan for reducing violence in Milwaukee.
