"Work together:" Group meets to discuss possible solutions to gun violence, mass incarceration in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- A group of people from a variety of sectors met on Thursday, August 4th to try to make some inroads when it comes to strengthening communities and reducing gun violence and mass incarceration.

Faith leaders, elected officials, anti-violence advocates, and others took part in a meeting at Bader Philanthropies -- all looking for solutions -- but they already have a road map.

"It's going to take time to bring these entities together. We didn't get into this overnight and we're not going to get out of it overnight," said Reverend Willie Brisco with MICAH. 

Many urban, mid-sized cities are dealing with some of the same issues: gun violence, police-community relationships, mass incarceration and poverty.

Finding solutions is the tough part.

"We're not going to solve the problems today. But we have to work together as a community," said President and CEO of Bader Philanthropies, Daniel Bader.

Milwaukee, Richmond, Virginia and Stockton, California -- all mid-size, diverse cities, were selected in 2015 to be a part of the national initiative identifying problems and seeking recommendations from community stakeholders.

They focused on four things: access to guns, police-community relationships, and...

Spencer Overton

"They talked about investing in these communities in terms of social services and other things. As well as collaboration, in terms of communities begin in part and kind of sharing data," said Spencer Overton with the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies.

The findings resulted in the "engaging communities" report, which was discussed Thursday.

Nina Vinik

"To really focus on how Milwaukee, per se, can take that information and move it forward here," said The Joyce Foundation Program Director, Nina Vinik.

The report includes strategies for reducing access to firearms by those at greatest risk of violence, increasing collaboration within communities to address violence-related problems, and improving relations between police and communities of color.