GREEN BAY (NBC26) — As the Green Bay Police and Fire Commission narrows its nationwide search for Green Bay's next police chief, they're seeking the public's input before making final round interviews. The commission will hold listening sessions throughout the month of July where members of the public can give their thoughts on who should lead the department.
Rod Goldhahn, the president of the Police and Fire Commission, says they're looking for qualities the public desires in a new chief, more so than input on specific candidates.
"We really want to focus on attributes, not individuals," Goldhahn said. "We'd like to move people away from saying 'I think candidate A is the best one' or 'I think candidate 3 is the best one.' We want them to say what they would like to see in a chief as the leader of the department going forward."
He says that when the commission last searched for a police chief, they opened a survey where the public could give their input. This time around, they decided to hold listening sessions to allow for face-to-face discussions.
"Surveys are one-sided and you don't have the context so this time the commission decided that we would like to have listening sessions so we could have two-way communications with the people speaking," Goldhahn said.
Charles Caston, a crime victim advocate with the We All Rise African American Resource Center, says he'd ideally like the next chief to be someone from the area who has taken the time to build relationships with marginalized communities.
"When you're in Green Bay, Wisconsin you know that there aren't many places here for the oppressed," Caston said. "To put yourself where the oppressed is, is the first step I believe. When you go out there you have to be where the crime is taking place. I don't like to only see police when there's crime taking place."
Data from the police department show that crime has been on the decline over the last few years. There were a total of 6,885 crimes in 2015 compared to 6,439 in 2020.
But just because overall crime is down, Caston says that does not mean there's no room for improvement when it comes to the department's relationship with the community, especially the African American community.
"I like to believe that protecting and serving is knowing the people who you are protecting. So just getting out there with the community, not necessarily learning African American people as you're arresting them, but getting to know them, getting to know their surroundings, how they live and how they interact with one another."
He says getting to know community members on a personal level would go a long way in helping the next police chief lead the department.
"Put yourself there to take thirty minutes or even ten minutes of getting out of your car and introducing yourself," Caston said. "It's hard to say hey this officer is here to protect me, but I don't know his name."
