Green Bay Police Review Officer's Siren Wake-Up of Homeless People Near St. John's Park

Green Bay police are reviewing how one of their officers woke several people sleeping outside near St. John's Park after a video of the encounter spread on Facebook, and a department captain told FOX 11 Wednesday that the response fell short of the department's own standard. "We can do better and we need to do better than that," said Capt. Tom Denney, who leads the Community Services Division.

The video was posted by a Facebook user who accused police of rousing homeless people in the middle of the night, and the post had drawn more than 500 comments, FOX 11 reported. The station said it's unclear when the footage was recorded. Denney described the officer's approach as making a PA announcement from a squad car and blipping the siren, which he said "really doesn't accomplish" what police are supposed to do.

Police told FOX 11 that state law prohibits sleeping next to a roadway and that officers often address it in person, even overnight. The usual practice, Denney said, is for an officer to get out of the car and talk face to face, so rules get enforced more compassionately and people can be connected with services. The department has identified the officer and talked with his supervisor, who is handling the matter. Denney said the department would correct it.

Weeks of Enforcement Around Downtown Parks

The video surfaced after months of stepped-up policing in Green Bay's east side parks. In mid-September, police increased enforcement at St. John's Park, including a city ordinance against loitering in parks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., after complaints about disturbances, drug use and possible human trafficking. Denney said at the time that the department had worked with City Hall and outreach workers rather than acting on its own. Police had already parked their mobile "Eagle Eye" camera at the park for about two weeks in early August, WBAY reported, before moving it to Whitney Park.

Much of the activity simply moved. Denney told FOX 11 in September that police had "just pivoted" to Whitney Park, and the station reported people shifting to St. James Park, Jackson Square and Joannes Park as well. At an Oct. 13 Whitney Park Neighborhood Association meeting, Denney told NBC26 that police had added an officer to the area and spend at least 15 minutes there every day. Neighbors at the meeting described people sleeping in the park, trash, theft, vandalized playground equipment and public urination. Denney also said that enforcement and cleanups do little about the root cause.

The city also locked the public restrooms at St. John's, Whitney and St. James parks in September. Parks Director Dan Ditscheit cited ongoing misuse and the safety of park users and staff. At a packed Sept. 30 community meeting, Police Chief Chris Davis said locking the restrooms creates one set of problems and leaving them open creates another. Jeremy Pingel, one of the city's homeless coordinators, said he didn't know when they would reopen.

Advocates Ask the City to Pause

Safe Haven Hope Center told FOX 11 in September that people often leave downtown because of enforcement, tickets they can't pay or jail time for nonpayment. Displacement without a coordinated shelter plan "does not solve homelessness," the organization said, and it asked the city to halt enforcement until every displaced person had a plan for stability over the coming months.

Jesse Brunette, executive director of St. John's Ministries, runs a shelter across the street from the park and has backed the police while pressing for narrower enforcement. He told FOX 11 this week that the department has been an "incredible" partner, caught between public demands for action in parks and the obligation to treat people with dignity whether or not they're homeless. In September he told the station that enforcement should target the individuals causing problems rather than stigmatize everyone without housing.

Shelter Season Opens Sunday

St. John's opens its emergency shelter season Nov. 1. The ministry sheltered about 140 people a night last winter, up from an average of 102 four seasons earlier, Brunette told WBAY. He said at the Whitney Park meeting that St. John's gets no state or federal funding. Its board adopted a new mission statement this month committing to low-barrier shelter and citing reduced options in the regional service network, especially for people with long-term or multiple challenges.

A July 22 count led by Freedom House Ministries found 556 people experiencing homelessness in Brown County, 206 of them living outside and 350 in shelters. WBAY noted that Newcap ran the previous count with a different method, so a direct comparison isn't possible. Brown County's January point-in-time count found 416 people, down from 453 a year earlier, according to Josh Benti of the Greater Green Bay Blueprint to Prevent and End Homelessness, writing in Wisconsin Watch.

Federal homelessness money is changing as well. HUD's 2026 Continuum of Care funding notice set aside $1.3 billion in a competitive tier that prioritized transitional housing and supportive services, according to the National Association of Counties. A federal judge ruled Aug. 7 that HUD acted unlawfully and ordered the notice rescinded, but an appeals court let the agency go ahead on Sept. 16. Brown County competes for that money through Wisconsin's Balance of State continuum, Benti wrote.

Cities have had wider legal room to police outdoor sleeping since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson in June 2024 that enforcing public camping bans doesn't violate the Eighth Amendment. Green Bay police haven't said publicly whether the officer will be disciplined or what the supervisor's corrective steps involve.