GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Safety concerns at Green Bay’s city hall have the city council discussing potential security upgrades.
Mayor Eric Genrich has said he’d like to look at potentially having a full-time security guard at city hall and possibly physical improvements. He hasn’t elaborated on what those physical improvements might be.
Genrich made those comments at last week’s council meeting as he was defending the city’s use of audio surveillance in the hallways of city hall.
Genrich and members of his administration have said recording devices were installed after three separate incidents in which city employees and a reporter were “verbally assaulted.”
On Tuesday, some city council members questioned whether the security concerns are being used to distract from the audio surveillance discussion.
“I’m glad we’re having this discussion, I wish it didn’t come at the point we’re having it now because it seems like we’re in a way justifying the use of audio surveillance, which I am still very much against,” said Jesse Brunette, Green Bay’s city council president.
Brunette says budget discussions in the fall would have been a more appropriate time to bring up security improvements at city hall.
Last Tuesday, the city council voted to remove the audio recording devices.
A lawsuit claims the audio surveillance violates state law and the constitution.
The West Allis Police Department has also agreed to investigate whether criminal charges should be filed.
Police Chief Chris Davis says security concerns go beyond the incidents that prompted the audio recording devices to be installed.
“Nationally, I think the direction we are going is towards more risk occasionally of violence in public buildings. There is nothing stopping that from happening in this building.”
Alderperson Bill Galvin told the committee there were 207 police calls for service at city hall since Jan. 1, 2019. He says 35 of those calls resulted in an officer responding to city hall.
The police calls included seven for a disturbance, seven for harassment, eight for a suspicious person, 10 for a suspicious situation, six welfare checks and 59 miscellaneous calls, according to Galvin.
Galvin, a retired police officer, says city hall likely would have been considered a “hot spot” during his time with the Green Bay Police Department for that many calls in that amount of time.
FOX 11 has confirmed one of the three “verbal assault” incidents that prompted the audio recording devices to be installed led to a municipal citation for disorderly conduct. It was issued to Janet Angus, a local attorney and election observer.
A city official says the other two incidents did not result in any citations.
Court documents show Angus has an attorney fighting the citation, claiming the city only issued it after an election complaint was filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, detailing violations Angus says she witnessed.
Angus is a plaintiff in the civil lawsuit about the audio surveillance. The other plaintiffs are State Rep. André Jacque, R-1st District, and former city council member Tony Theisen.
The personnel committee voted to have staff return to its next meeting with a more specific security proposal. Committee members asked for the proposal to include funding estimates and sources.
The committee also asked for a survey of city employees to see what they think needs to be done.
Davis estimates a sworn officer at city hall whenever it is open to the public would cost about $185,000 per year. He says contracting for a security guard would likely cost about $150,000 a year.
Davis also suggested community service officers as an option. Those officers are not sworn or armed. Davis says they are currently paid $12.60 an hour.
Committee members and Davis also discussed potentially reconfiguring city hall’s first floor to offer more services, limiting the number of people who would need access to other floors of the building.
