Racine gun violence, other crimes down compared to 2022: data
RACINE, Wis. - Calls to the Racine Police Department for gun crimes are down 45% compared to last year, according to new crime data FOX6 News obtained.
The calls are for reports of shots fired. So far this year, as of Oct. 2, the city has had 526 such calls – down from 947 calls at the same time in 2022.
"I’m glad to see the progress. A 45% reduction in gun violence is a big deal," said Racine Mayor Cory Mason. "The men and woman who work here [Racine Police Department] deserve a lot of the credit for this, but we’re not taking victory laps here. We know there’s still work to do. There are still homicides that occur."
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Through Oct. 3, the city crime data shows 10 homicide in 2023, which is one more than the same point last year.
The data, exclusively obtained by FOX6, shows car thefts are up 30%,. While rapes are up 8%, from 71 reported this time in 2023 to 77 so far this year.
In total, the department reports serious crimes are down 13% in the city, including a 31% drop in burglaries and a 64% drop in robberies.
Alex Ramirez, the city's interim police chief, said the police department is using data to focus its strategy and working with the community and both the Racine County Sheriff's Office and federal agencies – like the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Interim Racine Police Chief Alex Ramirez
"We work with members of the community that take a big part of this, so there’s a lot of collaboration," said Ramirez. "We share that information, we get the data, we put it together. We focus on individuals who are prone to violence or have violence in their past and are continuing with that violence."
One of the Racine Police Department's difficulties is a staffing shortage, down 35 officers – a 17% hole from its authorized strength of 196 officers.
"We still have men and women who work here who then fill in those shifts with overtimes, for extended periods of time," said Mason. "Chief’s doing everything he can to fill those positions, but it’s going to take time to build back to full strength. And that’s why we’re pleased to have coordination with federal agencies or county agencies to help us do that work."
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Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave lambasted Mason in an August email, obtained by FOX6 News. He wrote that the sheriff's office filled in "six to seven" deputies to assist the city at a cost of nearly $800,000.
Last spring, the county and city launched a joint Violent Crime Reduction Initiative.
"We started this Violent Crime Reduction Initiative last May, the previous May," Mason countered. "The county came forward and said they wanted to be part of it.
"A year ago, certainly we heard a lot about gun violence, in particular. So, first and foremost, I think people who work here in the police department deserve credit."
The city then set up its own Office of Violence Prevention. The county executive alleged that office "recreates the VCRI framework, inadvertently claims credit for previous collaborative efforts, and shifts ownership of violence prevention work exclusively under the city."
Racine Police Department
"This is really a case that we need ‘both/and’ in this case not ‘either/or' – no one organization has sole jurisdiction to keep the community safe. We all need to work together," responded Mason in an interview with FOX6 News.
Despite the back and forth between these two leaders, both the city and county are working together. Maurice Horton, the county's community violence prevention supervisor, is part of the team called when there is a shooting.
"It gives us the opportunity to really work with families that need us, hear from families that need other resources, whether it’s employment, whether it’s resume building, and being able to just collaborate in partnership with all partners that are involved," he said. "This is a situation where no one partner can do it alone."
The Racine Police Department is hiring, looking to fill the 35 openings and get up to full strength. There are 15 people in the academy right now. The department launched a cadet program from those too young to join the academy, which city leaders hope will lead to more recruits for the academy.