FOX 11 Investigates safety concerns in downtown Green Bay after recent active night

WatchFOX 11 Investigates safety concerns in downtown Green Bay after recent active nightby Ben Krumholz,FOX11News

It’s a question some may be asking after police had a highly publicized busy night a few weeks ago.

People who follow scanner pages on Facebook might be asking the same thing as posts about police calls for juveniles near the City Deck have been common over the past year.

It’s been almost a month since a Green Bay Police officer fired their gun at a vehicle that drove into a crowd on South Washington Street just after bar close. No one was hurt and the driver was arrested a short time later.

FOX 11 Investigates safety concerns in downtown Green Bay after recent active night, October 13, 2026. (WLUK)

Earlier in the evening, there was a fight on North Washington.

The Brown County Arrests and Crime Reports page posted videos of both on Facebook.

FOX 11 Investigates asked Green Bay Police Captain Tom Denney if he believes the downtown is safe.

“Yes,” said Denney. “Downtown, it’s a vibrant entertainment district. We have a lot business development down there. We have a lot more residential development down there. It’s a safe place and go out and enjoy an evening. We’d like it to be better. We’d like it to be more peaceful and we’re going to continue to work on making that happen.”

Denney acknowledges the downtown isn’t without issues, breaking them down to three that have gained increased police attention: Disturbances involving juveniles, disturbances involving bar crowds, and loud vehicles.

“The juvenile disturbances that has been an issue we’ve been working on for a couple of years now,” said Denney.

“Oh my god, it’s kind of bad now,” said Janice Williams, who has lived in an apartment on the City Deck for about eight years. “It’s been like a couple months now. They get worse, especially down by The Creamery. It will be like 30 of them down there wreaking havoc on people, fighting, breaking in cars. It’s just getting bad.”

Williams’ explanation of the juvenile problems was very similar to what business owners and managers told us. However, they were unwilling to talk on camera.

“They’re everywhere,” said Williams of the juveniles. “I see so many of them now, it’s kind of like scary being out here.”

Posts about police calls for juveniles on the City Deck are plentiful on the Brown County Arrests and Crime Reports Facebook page include calls for groups of 10 to 30, some involving weapons. They are scanner reports, but police confirmed incidents like these have happened.

Screenshots of posts about police calls involving juveniles near the City Deck from the Brown County Arrests and Crime Reports Facebook page. (Photo courtesy: Facebook with WLUK modificaitons)

“Enforcement can be a part of how we make this better,” said Denney. “Enforcement is not the only thing we need to make this better.”

Denney says that is especially true with the juveniles, calling on parents to step up and keep better track of their kids.

“We attempted to make contact with all of their parents,” said Denney. “We were able to with some. We weren’t with others and just talk to them about the issues that we’ve had in the past. Just talk about strategies of how they could do a better job keeping track of their juvenile.”

Police have issued juveniles citations including disorderly conduct and curfew violations. They’ve also enforced no trespassing as the City Deck is a city park.

Parents are also being cited for contributing to curfew or delinquency of a child, according to Denney.

“If we have a child that we’ve had multiple negative contacts with and we’ve been able to have the conversation with the parents and warn them about the steps they really need to take to better supervise their child,” said Denney. “If we continue to have issues with the same child we’ve issued those citations too.”

“I’m glad the police is down here and they do a great job,” said Williams. “They make you feel safe. When you be somewhere for years you want to feel safe and comfortable. You don’t want to be scared to go out your door. “

The police department reports City Deck disturbances have gone down year over year, but overall downtown disturbances with juveniles have held steady.

One business owner, who wouldn’t talk on camera, told FOX 11 Investigates he believes the issues with juveniles are as bad as ever. He estimates he called police more than 100 times this summer – even comparing it to the issues Milwaukee has been experiencing with Water Street that has led to businesses shutting down.

“I think they could do more,” said Alyssa Gonzales, a downtown resident, when asked about the job police has done with downtown issues. “I’m not exactly sure what but I think they can do more.”

Gonzales moved to an apartment on the City Deck at the beginning of this year and has also been a bartender in the downtown for a few years.

She witnessed the fight in person that Brown County Arrests and Crime Reports posted video of a few weeks ago. FOX 11 asked her how common that type of incident is in the downtown.

“I’d say a lot,” said Gonzales. “My friends go out downtown and see a lot of fights. It happens a lot, especially on Washington.”

Green Bay Police say disturbances involving bar crowds has gone up about 20% in the past year compared to the year prior.

“The reason for it, I don’t know if I could tell you what the reason for it for why this last year was worse than the year before,” said Denney. “What we’re doing in response is putting more focus on that, directed our nightshift patrol to do everything they can to keep officers down there.”

While a pattern hasn’t been found, Denney believes bars have been busier.

“We’re not seeing the same people involved in disturbances night after night,” said Denney. “It tends to be different people. It tends to be disturbances between one person and another person and they don’t know each other. So, there’s just more randomness to the nature of those incidents.”

As for loud vehicles, like with the juvenile and bar crowd problems, police hope increased presence and enforcement will help.

“We want to provide some peace for the people that live down there and are trying to sleep down there,” said Denney.

So should these issues be reasons to steer clear of downtown?

The people who live downtown and experience the area each day don’t think so.

“It’s fun down here, but it can be improved,” said Gonzales. “Overall, it’s good.”

“I love it here,” said Williams. “I’ve been down here for years and I don’t plan on leaving as of now.”

“If I were younger I wouldn’t have any concerns about going out downtown on a weekend night,” said Denney.

FOX 11 Investigates will continue to keep an eye on these issues and provide reports as necessary.