Gun Violence is on the Rise in Milwaukee, Causing a Ripple Effect in Our Communities

In Milwaukee’s rich history, its tremendous blizzards and viciously hot summers, its riots and its prosperity, this city has never seen more gun crime than today.

According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Milwaukee saw 214 homicides in 2022, a rise from 193 homicides in 2021. Compared to the 97 homicides in 2019, which shows a 120% increase in 2022, while the average from 2015 to 2019 was about 119 homicides per year. So far in 2023, there has been 40 homicides as of April 3.

In 2021 and 2022 combined there were 1,751 non-fatal shootings, while in 2023 there have only been 176, a 2% difference compared to the number of non-fatal shootings in 2022 to the date, according to Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Wisconsin Department of Justice Crime Maps and Statistics

However, in the years leading to 2013 showed an overall crime reduction of 8.7% compared to 2012 and a 26% reduction compared to 2007, according to the Milwaukee Police Department.

Could the increase in gun violence and the change in community within Milwaukee have influenced a change to the human psychology of our communities, including of how officers behave on duty?

“The increase in gun violence and gun related homicides is not unique to Milwaukee, however Milwaukee is on the higher side compared to other cities,” said Ronald Gulotta, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Waukesha. “Gun violence has tremendous impacts on the families affected, and certainly increases the level of trauma experienced by those immediately impacted, but also in the broader community.”

“Knowing that it’s happening around you, knowing that it’s happening to people you know, touching lives of friends and family and neighbors is a very difficult thing to live with,” said Gulotta. “Living with that level of trauma, fear and heightened anxiety is having quiet a number of impacts in numerous different ways.”

Could this idea also be applied to our officers? That is, a sense of significant increase in gun crime within the city playing a part in increasing fear and anxiety within the Police.

“The widespread proliferation of handguns in our communities has tremendous impact on how officers behave with everyone they interact with. Add to that, police officers are human beings, so you’re living under this hypertension of concern,” said Gulotta. “You already have an elevation in adrenaline and your aggressiveness, and that’s going to have an impact on how you interact with people. It changes a lot of ways how police officers interact with their communities.”

The higher number of gun related crimes in the city directly impacts the number of Police interactions where firearms are present, that is no debate. Certain instances will stand out more than others and could be well remembered by officers, even while on duty.

Instances like Aug. 26, 2022, where an officer in a foot pursuit and shootout with a suspect was inadvertently shot in leg from the suspect’s firearm after the suspect had already died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Police Chief Jeffery Norman. This happened while the officers were approaching the body of the suspect.

As well as the night of Feb. 7 where Officer Peter Jerving was in a foot pursuit with 19-year-old suspect Terrell Thompson where multiple shots were fired by both parties, killing both. What happened that night has the whole law enforcement system feeling heart broken and on their toes.

“Every event has an impact, it’s a question of how large of an impact, and that changes per person. The degree of what they know about an event can alter how they go about their duties.” said Gulotta. “In local cases, there’s going to be much more chatter among officers about them with each other.”

“When individuals are killed in the community, it doesn’t just affect them, it affects everybody that’s around them,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “It’s this ripple effect that happens across the community.” (Reported by Evan Casey for Wisconsin Public Radio

Are the totality of these events along with increasing gun violence affecting the perception of Milwaukee county officers in the line of duty today? Let’s look at an instance just two weeks after the death of Officer Jerving. 

In the afternoon of Feb. 21, two Milwaukee police officers shot and killed 31-year-old man, Herman Lucas, after fleeing a routine traffic stop. During the vehicle pursuit the suspect ran a red light, according to Police Chief Norman, where the suspect took off on foot with a handgun in his possession. Approximately 30 seconds later the pursuing officer fired 10 rounds at the suspect, killing him.

Location of Lucas’s Death

Photo by Jackson Minshall

At a press conference later that day, Police Chief Norman said it was “unknown” whether or not the suspect pointed or threatened the use of the weapon. “I know at the time the officer engaged there was a firearm present, but at what point, where, or how is still a part of the investigation,” said Norman. However, as said earlier by Professor Gulotta, the firearm being present alone puts everyone on edge.

7-minutes after the shooting, back-up had arrived with a ballistic shield which the following officers stood behind while approaching the suspects body. In a video taken by a witness at the scene shows the officers dragging the deceased suspect by the foot before dropping his body onto the side of the curb.

“They snatched him up like a piece of trash,” said an anonymous friend of Lucas to WISN-12. “They pulled and dragged him like he was nobody.”

In an interview by Hillary Mintz (WISN 12) with former Milwaukee Police Supervisor, Steve Spingola, according to him all of the forward procedures were protocol of the Milwaukee Police.

The 43-year-old officer that opened fire has been placed under administrative duty at this time and a full investigation will be held by the Milwaukee Police Department and the Waukesha Police Department.

Silver Spring Drive, Where Car Pursuit Occurred

Photo by Jackson Minshall

“The idea of moving the body potentially could be seen as out of protocol, but acceptable if done for safety reasons if they believed there was an issue they needed to explore,” said Gulotta. “You need to hear from the officer of what was going through their mind about his decision process in that moment to find what he was concerned about and what he was afraid of in that incident.”

“The moving of the body typically would not be appropriate until investigators had ample photographs taken and pieces of evidence had been secured before moving the body,” said Gulotta. “It’s acceptable if there’s an issue of potential concern for safety. A loaded gun, even of a deceased person can still go off, so securing that gun is important for the safety of others around.”

The rise of gun violence and gun crime could lead officers to be questioning the condition of safety as a whole in each of their interactions throughout the community. 

“Again, police officers are human beings; human beings are impacted by their perception of concern and risk to themselves and others,” said Gulotta. “Incidents that are closer to home are likely going to have an impact on everybody, including officers.”