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Progress is possible, and Milwaukee’s decline in violent crime in recent years suggest it’s happening. 

Advocates and violence prevention workers say keeping crime trending down depends on investment in the trusted relationships that make violence less likely. 

Examples of investments that can create tangible alternatives to violence, they said, are mentorship instead of isolation, employment instead of boredom and community instead of retaliation.

At the center of it all is trust, said Reggie Moore, director of community safety, policy and engagement for the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. 

“Trust is universal,” Moore said. “Trust is the door opener.”

City and county leaders highlighted declines in violent crime on July 7 as they presented data for the first half of 2026.

Compared with the first half of 2025, homicides fell 30%, nonfatal shootings fell 27%, and carjackings fell 34%.

“Milwaukee is a safer community,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “This continues a multiyear trend that is very positive news.”

Karin Tyler, director of the city Department of Community Wellness and Safety, said the progress reflects years of collaboration among law enforcement, violence prevention organizations, community groups and residents.

“Milwaukee is making progress, and that progress belongs to all of us,” Tyler said.

Aziz Abdullah, co-founder of INPOWER Solutions, said he doesn’t want to gloss over the progress or take it for granted.  

INPOWER is one of several organizations participating in the Destined for Greater initiative, a collaborative effort to reduce violence in Milwaukee County. 

“Lives are being protected, and that should not be overlooked,” Abdullah said. 

Moore pointed to reductions in retaliatory shootings, group-based gun violence and youth-related gun violence as signs of progress. 

He said programs such as 414LIFE intentionally focus on the people and neighborhoods at highest risk of gun violence.

‘We don’t shoot up stuff’

Vaun Mayes, a community organizer and violence interrupter with the city’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety, said he sees these interventions firsthand every day. 

“We also get to see the changes in some of the key players who are even doing a bit of self-control and self-policing,” Mayes said. 

He described one instance at a block party where two groups were in conflict and one group was armed.

Mayes said he heard one of the young men say, “Aye, we don’t shoot up stuff where it’s kids at.” 

Community violence intervention workers de-escalated the conflict, and the result, Mayes said, was that no one was shot.

“That’s one of maybe over a dozen incidents in the past two months I can give you,” he said.

Looking forward

Violence prevention workers and local leaders said the local efforts are by no means complete.

“We still have work to do,” Tyler said.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman pointed to violence on the Fourth of July weekend as an example.

Moore said what’s needed is more employment and educational opportunities and helping people develop the skills to resolve conflicts without violence.

Bridget Whitaker, executive director of Safe & Sound, said residents continue to express concerns about reckless driving, youth conflicts, neighborhood safety and other quality-of-life issues.

“Ultimately, the goal isn’t simply fewer crimes on a dashboard,” Whitaker said in an email. “It’s creating neighborhoods where people feel comfortable sitting on their front porch, children can safely walk to the park, businesses can thrive and neighbors know and look out for one another.”

Homicides, shootings and carjackings fall as Milwaukee violence prevention efforts show progress is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Researchers from Children’s Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin found an association between motor vehicle crash injuries and firearm injuries among children and adolescents.

The findings could help inform violence prevention efforts, said Dr. Mike Levas, one of the authors of the study and a professor of pediatric emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin. 

“I think that car crashes, especially in our teens and young kids, can be a marker for that increased escalation and risky behaviors or risky situations,” said Levas, who is also medical director of Project Ujima. 

Project Ujima is a violence intervention program at Children’s Wisconsin. The program works to end the cycle of violence by providing crisis intervention and other support to youths and adults who are victims of violence.

Findings of the study

Nearly one in four patients treated for a firearm injury had multiple emergency department visits for firearm, non-firearm violence or motor vehicle crash injuries during a four-year period, according to the study.

The study examined 2,614 emergency department visits for violent injuries or motor vehicle crashes involving children and adolescents ages 0 to 17 from 2018 to 2022.

Researchers found a significant association between prior motor vehicle crash injuries and later firearm injuries.

In other words, motor vehicle crash injuries can serve as a marker for increased risk of a firearm injury later on.

Interpretation of findings

Traumatic events often do not occur in isolation, said Dr. Deanna Behrens, a pediatric critical care physician and American Academy of Pediatrics spokesperson.

“We know that there are clusters of activity, like risk-taking behavior, exposure to violence and traumatic injuries, that can happen in adolescence and early adulthood,” she said.

In addition to social and environmental factors, Levas said adolescents are still developing the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making.

“Most people, as they grow, don’t make great choices all the time,” Levas said. 

These developmental realities place some responsibility on society to help young people avoid risk, he said.

“If we don’t have guardrails for them, then I think from a public health standpoint, then we’re not helping the situation, we’re not helping to prevent injury,” he said.

Levas said Children’s Wisconsin is considering whether the findings could help identify opportunities to intervene earlier.

One possibility is expanding Project Ujima. 

Currently, the program serves youths who have been shot, stabbed or physically assaulted and provides case management, mental health services, mentorship and family support.

“One of the things that we’re looking at is: Do we expand our inclusion criteria to include victims of a motor vehicle crash so that we can prevent the firearm injury from happening altogether?” Levas said.

Important to note is that the program doesn’t just serve the direct victim of violence.

“We wrap our arms around the entire family, so not just the immediate victim, but we also support the entire household,” said Brooke Cheaton, manager of Project Ujima. “Those conversations are centered very much around concerns, whether it be for safety, for physical health, for mental well-being, emotional well-being, social supports.”

These types of support are necessary because violence can profoundly change the lives of victims, families and communities, Cheaton said.

“We are always talking about prevention, and early intervention is key to reducing injury and mortality,” said Maria Beyer, one of the authors of the study and a community health evaluation manager at Children’s Wisconsin. 

Collecting information early through interventions, she said, can help them learn of those shared risk factors that might be leading to both reckless driving and also gun violence. 

She said that mentoring and youth development programs are among the resources that could help communities intervene earlier.

What can parents do?

As Children’s Wisconsin explores ways to use the study findings to prevent future injuries, Levas said parents and caregivers can take steps of their own.

On a basic level, he said, parents can start by opening lines of communication with their children and helping them connect with trusted adults.

“Seeking mentorship for your child across multiple sectors is very helpful,” he said. “The more that the youth can get engaged with adults that are guiding them to make better choices, or learn how to stay out of risky situations, the better.”

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Researchers say car crashes could help identify youth at risk of gun violence  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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There are millions of Americans who have seriously considered harming others with a firearm but never acted on these thoughts, according to research from the University of Michigan published in March. 

Researchers say this means there could be a critical but often overlooked window for intervention.

It also suggests there is a group of people who can be targeted for various forms of novel intervention, the authors of the study conclude. 

Those more likely to report thoughts of shooting others were individuals who are younger, male, Black, living in the Midwest and in urban areas, according to the study. 

For Vaun Mayes, a community organizer who also does violence interruption for the city of Milwaukee’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety, the study’s conclusions ring true. 

“There are definitely usually signs of escalation prior to the results we see,” Mayes said. “Young people most definitely give notice before violence, and Black folks specifically culturally do as well.”

Millions report thoughts about shooting someone

The study found that roughly 8.5 million people said they had seriously thought about shooting someone in the year before being asked. Over a lifetime, that number rises to more than 19 million.

Although most never acted on their thoughts, the study estimated that 1.5 million U.S. adults had brought a gun to a specific location with the intention of shooting someone.

Fewer than 1% temporarily handed their firearm over during a time of crisis. 

The study found that gun owners are not the only people who are at risk of using a firearm, but those in the vicinity of gun owners as well. 

In other words, access to a firearm, rather than ownership, is a key predictor.

A temporary crisis and fatal outcome

James Bigham, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, pays a lot of attention to when and how firearms are accessed, especially during times of poor mental health or mental health crisis.   

Access to a gun can turn a temporary crisis into a fatal outcome, Bigham said. 

“If we could shift our culture where it’s normal … to transfer firearms during a time of crisis, we could really reduce the rates of death,” Bigham said.

Mayes said it’s because of the gap between consideration and action that violence interrupters can intervene to deescalate a situation.

The authors of the study suggest this is especially true in states with red flag laws.

Red flag laws, also known as Extreme Risk Prevention Orders, allow judges to issue court orders to temporarily restrict access to guns by individuals who could pose a threat to themselves or others.

More than 20 states have a version of a red flag law, but Wisconsin does not. 

Wisconsin also has weaker gun storage laws than most other states. 

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Resources

For those who are interested in places to safely store a gun, the Wisconsin Gun Shop Project’s “Live Today – Put It Away” program partners with participating gun shops – including several in Milwaukee County – to provide firearm safety information and temporary off-site storage options, often for a low fee. 

People can also go to the city of Milwaukee’s website to learn more about local violence interruption efforts.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Should gun violence intervention efforts start earlier? These researchers think so is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.