Milwaukee asks people for help with ‘blueprint for peace’
Flier explains goals, strategies
While you read this, right now, people upset about violence in Milwaukee are handing out a flier titled “Stop Shooting, Start Living, Ceasefiremke.”
It’s a simple postcard that promotes the “blueprint for peace” goals outlined by the Office of Violence Prevention in the city’s Health Department.
Saturday, those goals, and some of the reasons behind the city’s high rate of violence, were discussed at a community brainstorming conference at St. Matthew C.M.E. Church on the city’s north side.
The blueprint takes a public health approach, looking at causes of violence and modeling strategies seen in other cities.
It’s organized around six goals: stop the shooting; promote healing and restorative justice; support children, youth and families; promote economic opportunity; foster safe and strong neighborhoods; and strengthen the coordination of violence prevention efforts.
For now, it’s a 90-page plan with a lot of data, background and context, said Reggie Moore, director of the Office of Violence Prevention.
But there also are 29 strategies identified, in addition to the six goals, and those will require community involvement for them to be successful.
Think of the blueprint as a construction project, Moore told the 50 or so people at the conference.
“The blueprint describes what the building should look like. But you are the electricians, plumbers and other technicians actually doing the work. Our role, as a general contractor, is to make sure we have the materials, the resources, everything needed to actually build the reality we want to see in this city,” Moore said.
For years, Milwaukee leaders have talked about using a public health model to focus on causes of violence and stop it from spreading.
Setting goals and measuring outcomes are crucial components of similar public health plans to address gun violence in other cities, such as Minneapolis.
Fatal shootings grab headlines, but there’s more to the problem of violence than the killings, according to the conference’s speakers.
“None of this happens in a vacuum,” said David Muhammad, program manager for the Office of Violence Prevention.
In 2015, for example, 145 people were killed in gun violence in Milwaukee.
“That is a staggering number for a city of this size,” Muhammad said. “However, a more staggering number was the 633 people who were shot (but not killed). What happens now to that person who has a wound, and a scar that is physical, emotional and spiritual? What happens to a community that is traumatized?”
Violence is symptomatic of deeply rooted social problems, including neglect of young people lacking strong families, conference presenters said.
Public resources are available, some of them included on the flier being distributed throughout the city, but everyone needs to get involved, Muhammad said.
“The help that we really need to give people is the help that we can give each other,” he said.
Muhammad encouraged people who have a criminal history, and have since straightened out their lives, to help others.
“You know what you have been through. You know how you overcame it and have stayed away from those evils that could pull you back in. Because you’ve been able to do it, you can go and reach somebody else,” he said.