Milwaukee cut homicides dramatically by getting community members involved in the work of the Office of Violence Prevention. | Photo by Getty Images Creative

Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order on Jan. 14 establishing Wisconsin’s first statewide Office of Violence Prevention. This announcement was praised by most and erroneously criticized by others who are ill-informed about the life-saving role that this type of office can play in addressing gun violence. I would know, because in Milwaukee we did it. 

I became director of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention in 2016 after the city experienced a 70% increase in homicides in 2015. I was committed to ensuring that the voices of those from the neighborhoods most affected by violence would be centered in determining the priorities for increasing community safety and wellbeing in our city. 

We engaged thousands of community residents and stakeholders including youth, survivors, former perpetrators, clergy, law enforcement, activists, philanthropies, public health workers, business leaders and elected officials in a process to develop Milwaukee’s first comprehensive violence prevention plan known as the Blueprint for Peace. 

The launch and implementation of the Blueprint coincided with a steady four-year decline in homicides and non-fatal shootings in Milwaukee from 2016-2019. In fact, during the same period, Milwaukee experienced one of the deepest declines in homicides and non-fatal shootings in the country and achieved two consecutive years of fewer than 100 homicides before the pandemic. 

In 2020, Milwaukee and cities across the country were hit with historic levels of gun violence that continue to this day. Over the past four years, federal policies and investments in comprehensive approaches to violence prevention have contributed to historic reductions in homicides and non-fatal shootings across the country. 

If arrest and prosecution were the sole answers to violence, America would be the safest country on the planet. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The smartest police chiefs, prosecutors and judges will tell you that investments in violence prevention make a real difference in public safety. 

Nothing is stronger on crime than being smart about it. Research from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform’s The Cost of Violence – Milwaukee, WI report found that a single homicide in Wisconsin cost taxpayers $2 million per incident and a single non-fatal shooting costs $644,000. 

For context, Milwaukee ended 2024 with 132 homicides and 639 nonfatal shootings, resulting in a total cost to taxpayers of $264,411,516 in a single year! That is half the cost of building one Fiserv Forum. 

In contrast, a single violence intervention program in Milwaukee known as 414 LIFE has intervened in over 250 high risk conflicts since 2018 that could have resulted in a non-fatal shooting or homicide, saving taxpayers approximately $500 million. 

Combined funding from the city and county for this program is $2 million per year. The return on investment in violence prevention is clear. Furthermore, doing everything possible to prevent another resident from ending up in a hospital bed, graveyard or jail cell should be a shared priority regardless of political affiliation. 

While the details of the state office are being worked out, the effectiveness of such an office is dependent on competent leadership, unwavering support and sustainable funding. I hope that the governor and his team take a similar approach to the one that produced Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace by centering the voices of those most affected by violence as they determine the new office’s priorities for solutions and investment. Anything less would be a missed opportunity.

Gov. Tony Evers announced the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention. Later, that day Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said it wouldn't be effective. Evers and Vos pictured at Evers' 2024 State of the State. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order Tuesday to create the Wisconsin Office of Violence Prevention in response to the December shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison where a teacher and a student died and six others were injured. 

Evers spoke about troubling  gun death statistics in Wisconsin and across the country. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the rate of gun deaths has increased 54% from 2014 to 2023 in Wisconsin, compared to a 34% increase nationwide. A recent report by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) Educational Fund, a leading gun violence prevention organization, found that guns claimed the lives of 830 Wisconsinites, including 529 firearm suicides and 277 firearm homicides, in 2022.

“Violence is a statewide problem with statewide consequences for people and families across our state,” Evers said at a press conference Tuesday morning, adding that people across Wisconsin deserve a comprehensive response. He said that the Office of Violence Prevention will be one important step in combating the problem. 

Evers is directing $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money for the office, which will be housed in the Department of Administration. Its work will include administering grants to school districts, firearm dealers, law enforcement agencies, nonprofits and government agencies to support violence and gun violence prevention efforts. Those who receive grants could use the money for expenses including supporting law enforcement investigations, using crime gun intelligence tools, implementing suicide prevention education to identify people in crisis, promoting and administering safe storage and gun buyback programs and implementing suicide prevention and firearm safety training in schools. 

Other responsibilities of the office will include helping coordinate state and local agencies to “ensure a whole-of-government approach to prevent violence, including gun violence statewide,” providing technical assistance to local violence prevention and intervention efforts; and developing public education campaigns to promote safer communities and identifying opportunities to improve statewide policies or laws.

While the office will be launched using federal money, Evers is proposing that Wisconsin make the office permanent in the 2025-27 state budget with ongoing state funding, but Republican lawmakers appeared opposed to the effort. 

The proposal is unlikely to get the support of Republican lawmakers, who said the office wouldn’t help the issue.

“It takes a bureaucrat to think that another government agency is actually going to be effective,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Racine) said about the office Tuesday afternoon. “I think what we need to do is to increase funding for our police and public safety services, not create a whole bunch of touchy-feely bureaucrats that are going to go around wasting time, wasting money.”

Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) also appeared skeptical that the office would be effective in helping prevent violence, and pointed to a similar local office in Milwaukee, saying it hasn’t worked. 

“Let me get this straight, Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention was so ineffective at preventing violence that they fired the director and renamed the office,” Wanggaard said in a statement. The office is now called the Office of Community Wellness and Safety, and its director recently resigned. “Now, Governor Evers wants to replicate that failure at the state level?” 

Evers said that he will also propose the “most sweeping, comprehensive package of gun safety reform and violence prevention efforts” that he’s ever introduced while in office in his 2025 budget. He said additional details will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Evers noted that Republican lawmakers have rejected his previous efforts, including a special session call, to implement gun safety reform such as universal background checks and red flag laws.

“In 2025, that just cannot continue to be the case,” Evers said. 

“I have no problem making sure that criminals are not able to access firearms, but I also want to make sure that if people have not committed a crime, they are not artificially held back from legally obtaining a firearm to protect themselves,” Vos said.

Democratic state lawmakers and local officials expressed support for Evers’ proposals. 

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (R-Racine) said that the office will help move Wisconsin forward when it comes to preventing gun violence. 

“We should be doing everything in our power to keep our communities safe,” Neubauer said. “It’s far past time we take action on common sense policies to build a safer Wisconsin.” 

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the issue of gun violence is a “public health” problem. She said the city has seen improvement through its violence prevention team, which in the last year helped over 100 people, including some who engaged in violence, some who were victims of violence and others who were affected by violence. She said the team works to address the root causes of violence and the aftermath of violence. 

“We do not have to accept living like this,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Violence is contagious and if you can contain it by supporting the folks who are touched, we have a chance to reduce violence in our communities.” 

Rhodes-Conway said she was grateful that Evers was creating and funding the statewide office to help support Madison’s efforts as well as other communities across the state. 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that he was “deeply grateful” to Evers for making violence prevention a statewide priority and is looking forward to working with his administration to help make the county and Wisconsin safe. 

“Gun violence continues to devastate communities across Milwaukee County and beyond,” Crowley said. “However, we have seen encouraging progress, including reduced homicide rates and positive outcomes from targeted violence prevention efforts, such as the Advance Peace program.”