Milwaukee Homicide Report Documents Firearm Deaths, Injuries

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says the 2016 homicide report shows a continuing problem with the availability of guns.

The Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission reports the number of fatal and nonfatal shootings went down a little in the city in 2016, compared to 2015. But Barrett says the recently released annual report also shows a 51 percent increase in firearm-related homicides over the last decade, including time after the state loosened some of its restrictions on guns.

“We said this was going to happen,” Barrett told reporters Friday, adding, “The more guns you allow to flood the city of Milwaukee, the more violence you’re going to have. It started in 2011 and continues through today.”

Barrett said he’ll soon release a violence prevention plan, called Blueprint for Peace. He said his proposed Milwaukee city budget includes $280,000 to send more counselors into high-crime neighborhoods to try to prevent or interrupt violence.

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Bevan Baker said the staffers will have expertise.

“These people have techniques where they can begin to know how violence is going to erupt, and they try to go in and stop that at its core. Many of these individuals (perpetrators) know each other, and if we know where the disease is, we can help put it out,” Baker said.

Baker said the work is not for the faint of heart.