VILLAGE & POLICING
Bay Bridge hopes to foster the Village of Whitefish Bay’s stated commitment to equity
This priority is focused on identifying needs and developing expectations for change within the Village government of Whitefish Bay and the Whitefish Bay Police Department to promote racial equity and an anti-racist perspective in all policies, practices and communications.
2022 Goal
Building relationships with village leadership to identify areas for improvement and build a plan for action.
What you need to know...
Bay Bridge has identified strong interest and desire for increased discussion and action toward racial equity in our community
There has been a demonstrated interest in:
- police citation data,
- police & community relations,
- police commission transparency,
- community diversity,
- effects of segregation,
- creation of a welcoming community
- Village communication tools which convey equity and
- provision of a more diverse housing stock.
Milwaukee County - of which Whitefish Bay is a part - has declared racism a public health crisis and is working to educate its residents on the history and ramifications of racism.
Milwaukee County has also passed an ordinance to advance racial equity and improve health outcomes. The County has additional resources and learning opportunities made available through the Office of African American Affairs, and the Department of Health and Human Services among other County departments. The County’s budgeting process also utilizes a racial equity budgeting tool.
The Intergovernmental Cooperation Council (ICC) - of which Whitefish Bay is a part - created an Equity Report in the Summer of 2020 for Milwaukee County Suburban communities.
The recommendations put forward in the report can be adopted by Whitefish Bay with encouragement and support from Bay Bridge. The Village of Whitefish Bay has already issued an Equity Statement with encouragement from the ICC and the Whitefish Bay community. Other ICC Equity report recommendations pertain to the make-up of boards & commissions, policies & practices of government, and issues related to policing.
Community members reflected a desire of residents for an increase in more diverse housing stock and a more diverse community.
The village planning process completed in conjunction with Graef gathered input from community members and reflected a desire of residents for an increase in more diverse housing stock and a more diverse community. Bay Bridge can help creation and adoption of equity action items based on the community input utilized to create the strategic planning document.
Get Involved
Read
Read village notices, agendas and publications, using the lens of equity to view topics and voices behind those topics. Look for opportunities for our community to become an actively anti-racist.
Read the Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. Read articles by Reggie Jackson and John Gurda.
Communicate
Communicate with village board members via public statement or written comments to express interest in development of an equity plan with actionable and measurable goals.
Help document incidents that reflect bias, prejudice or racial discrimination.
Educate
Educate yourself on the wider issues. Pursue educational opportunities that address the history of segregation in our region, the history of policing, and racial incidents that have occurred in our village.
Housing Equity
We are gearing up to address some of the housing equity issues in WFB. If you have experience in housing/real estate/rental properties and are interested in making a difference in our community, let us know.
Want more info?
Contact Anne for more information on how you can help engage the community and build a platform for inclusion.
