Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety; new leader revealed
New leader at MKE Office of Community Wellness and Safety
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced on Monday, Aug. 18, that Adam Procell will serve as the new head of the Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced on Monday, Aug. 18, that Adam Procell will serve as the new head of the Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety.
Procell to lead Office of Community Wellness and Safety
What they're saying:
"In that role, Adam will lead our front-line violence prevention efforts in the city, taking on a major role in public safety here in Milwaukee," said Mayor Johnson. "Adam's lived experience, having been convicted of a most serious crime, sentenced to a very lengthy, prison term, and then completely, I mean, just absolutely, completely, turning his life around. All this means that he brings unmatched, perspective to this job and this, work in our community."
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson
"Who better to help others chart that course out of that lifestyle than somebody who has so successfully done that? And has already dedicated his life to this mission?" said Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.
Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski
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"I need you to understand three quick things. One: I'm not a Democrat," Procell said. "I'm not going to toe any party's line because safety isn't partisan and the person that's about to get shot, they don't care if I'm on the right or the left. All they care about is will you under un, turn every single stone to make sure that you're working with everybody to find solutions? Number two, I feel I can't do this job unless we support the police department. We need to pay them better. We need to give them resources. We need to ensure that they're culturally competent… And lastly, I told the mayor that my mindset is clear. I'm approaching this position as if it's one of triage. And when I completed the Stop the Bleed training a year ago, I learned that to stop the bleeding, you have to apply heavy pressure on the wound. And I don't know if the community is ready for the pressure that I'm going to apply."
Adam Procell
The mayor's pick was not one of the three previous finalists for the job, but he's not new to violence prevention.
Johnson said Procell already does similar work with community outreach. He says Procell joined the list of candidates late, but quickly rose to the top.
Partly, because of his past.
"Three days after I turned 15 years old, I made the worst decision a human could make," Procell said. "I was sentenced to life at 15 for gang-related homicide."
He spent more than 20 years in prison.
Johnson and other city leaders say Procell’s dedication to turning his lie around and helping others makes him the right fit.
"It is an honor. It's humbling to have the weight of a community," Procell said. "I will work every single day. I will use your resilience, your strength, to try to make our community a safer place."
What is the Office of Community Wellness and Safety
What we know:
The Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety leads violence prevention activities – and takes action to reduce crime in the city.
The city's website says the Office of Community Wellness & Safety brings together agencies, experts, and community resources on efforts that reduce:
- Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
- Sexual Assault
- Child Abuse
- Human Trafficking
- Children Witness to Violence
- Community Violence
- Gun Violence
- Interpersonal Violence, Intentional injury, and Homicide
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Milwaukee City Hall
The site also says the public health approach uses a four-pronged framework to investigate, understand, and address violence by:
- Defining the nature and scope of the violence problem through data collection
- Researching why violence occurs, who it affects, risk and protective factors, and other influences that can be impacted through intervention strategies
- Designing, implementing, and evaluating violence prevention strategies
- Ensuring widespread adoption of evidence-based practices on an individual, family, community, and societal level
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The next steps
What's next:
The mayor said there will be a forum at an unknown date where Procell can formally introduce himself to the public.
There is also no date for when Procell would start in the new role.
Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety; new leader revealed
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced on Monday, Aug. 18, his selection for the new head of Milwaukee’s Office of Community Wellness and Safety.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the City of Milwaukee.