Over the past several years the La Crosse Police Department has taken notice of an alarming trend – more gun calls and crimes with guns. We have implored other institutions within the criminal justice system to take notice as well and send a message that gun crimes will not be tolerated in our community.
In the past 2 months we have responded to multiple gun/shooting calls. The following incidents are some of the examples; however this list is not all inclusive and does not include incidents outside of La Crosse:
- A shooting at a house party resulting in 1 person with a gunshot wound and little to no cooperation with police investigative efforts.
- A shooting in our downtown, during bar hours, resulting in 1 person with a gunshot wound and one person arrested for the shooting and little to no cooperation with police investigative efforts.
- A shooting where the suspects approached a residence and fired randomly into the house resulting in 1 person with a gunshot wound and one person from the residence arrested for drug dealing charges and little to no cooperation with police investigative efforts.
- An accidental discharge of a handgun caused by reckless handling of the gun resulting in 2 people with gunshot wounds. This person was referred on charges of recklessly endangering safety.
- A fight call, that when police arrived found a loaded AK47 style gun left lying in the area where the fight occurred and multiple people running from the scene and little to no cooperation with police investigative efforts.
- A home invasion robbery where the suspect put a handgun to the victim’s head.
In the last 2.5+ years (2016-today) 53 people were referred to the Courts for “Felon in Possession of Firearm”. By way of comparison, in the 4-year period of 2012-2015, 30 people were referred to the Courts for “Felon in possession of Firearms” charges. That is a 76% increase and occurred in a significantly shorter time frame. The La Crosse Police Department firmly believes the “Felon in Possession of Firearm” people are the most dangerous to both our community and our officers. These criminals deserve the most restrictive bonds and the least amount of leniency from the criminal justice system.
The number of gun calls requiring police action mirrors the increase of “Felon in Possession of Firearm”. La Crosse Police had 54 gun calls between 2016-today and 30 gun calls between 2012-2015 – that is a 80% increase.
Chief Tischer is committed to addressing this emerging trend and ensuring the safety of our community. He will continue to keep the public informed of important shifts in crime. And lastly, Chief Tischer is committed to the safety of the men and women of the La Crosse Police Department and providing them with the training and equipment to do their jobs as safely as possible.
La Crosse PD Newsroom 