Here & Now

Report Weighs Economic Costs Of Gun Violence

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

THE EMOTIONAL COST TO FAMILY AND LOVED ONES AFFECTED BY GUN VIOLENCE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE. BUT THIS WEEKEND A NEW REPORT FROM THE WISCONSIN CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM WILL REVEAL THE ECONOMIC COST TO THE PUBLIC FROM ACTS OF GUN VIOLENCE. CONSIDER THIS, ACCORDING TO THE CENTER’S REPORTING, IN 2012 THE OVERALL COST OF GUN VIOLENCE IN WISCONSIN – THOSE ACCOUNTED FOR BY HEALTHCARE, POLICE TIME, COURTS AND CORRECTIONS WAS $2.9 BILLION. THAT’S $508 PER PERSON IN THE STATE. 79% OF WISCONSIN HEALTHCARE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FIREARM-RELATED INJURIES ARE PAID FOR BY THE PUBLIC. SEAN KIRKBY REPORTS THESE COSTS BY TELLING THE STORY OF ONE VERY SPECIFIC ACT OF VIOLENCE IN MILWAUKEE AND SEAN JOINS US NOW. THANKS FOR BEING HERE.

SEAN KIRKBY:

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

WELL, AS WE’VE SAID, WE KNOW THAT YOUR REPORT IS REALLY CHALK FULL OF ALL THESE KINDS OF DOLLARS AND CENTS AND REALLY OUTLINED IN A VERY INTERESTING AND PROVOCATIVE WAY. BUT YOU ANALYZED IT BY STARTING OUT USING AN ACTUAL CASE OF ACTUAL VICTIMS AND SHOOTERS. WHAT CASE DID YOU LOOK AT?

SEAN KIRKBY:

SO THE STORY WHICH WILL BE ON WISCONSIN WATCH.ORG THIS SUNDAY IS PART OF A PROJECT CALLED PRECIOUS LIVES WHICH WE’RE FOCUSING ON CHILDREN AND GUN VIOLENCE IN MILWAUKEE. AND WE’RE WORKING ON IT WITH THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 371 PRODUCTIONS AND A FEW RADIO STATIONS IN THE MILWAUKEE AREA. AND THE JOURNAL SENTINEL WHICH HAD INTERVIEWED A MAN NAMED CLAUDAIRE MOTLEY, WHO WAS SHOT WHILE BEING IN TOWN A FEW — A YEAR AGO FOR A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. ESSENTIALLY WHAT HAPPENED, HE WAS DROPPING OFF A FRIEND LATE AT NIGHT AND A CAR PULLED UP IN FRONT OF HIM. THE PASSENGER OF THE CAR GOT OUT AND HE WAS A TEENAGER ABOUT 15 YEARS OLD AND FIRED INTO MOTLEY’S CAR AS AN ATTEMPTED CARJACKING. MOTLEY WAS INJURED AND SHOT IN THE MOUTH.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

SO YOU FOLLOWED THE COSTS THAT PERTAINED TO THAT INJURY. WHAT KINDS OF COSTS DID YOU TALLY?

SEAN KIRKBY:

WE TOOK A LOOK AT MEDICAL COSTS, LAW ENFORCEMENT COSTS AND OTHER COSTS WE MAY NOT NECESSARILY THINK OF. FOR INSTANCE, CLAUDAIRE HAS UNDERGONE ABOUT SIX SURGERIES TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE TO HIS JAW. AND THAT’S COST HIM ABOUT $80,000 OUT-OF-POCKET AT LEAST. HE’S ALSO LOST ABOUT $40,000 TO $60,000 AT HIS JOB AND IN THE AMOUNT OF WORK HE WOULD DO BECAUSE OF HIS INJURY. AND THE SHOOTER WAS ACTUALLY INJURED A FEW DAYS LATER DURING ANOTHER ATTEMPTED ROBBERY. HIS VICTIM PULLED A GUN ON HIM. AND WE TOOK A LOOK AT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COST INVOLVED IN THAT CASE, WHICH WAS ABOUT $1500 FOR THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY, $1500 FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY THAT PROSECUTED THE CASE. AND HE RECEIVED ABOUT 12 1/2 YEARS IN PRISON, WHICH IF YOU USE TODAY’S CURRENT ESTIMATE FOR THE AMOUNT OF TIME IN PRISON IS ABOUT $32,000 A YEAR.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

THAT’S SOME OF THE DIRECT COSTS THAT YOU REPORTED. WHAT KINDS OF INDIRECT COSTS ARE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT IN YOUR REPORT THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH GUN VIOLENCE?

SEAN KIRKBY:

SO THERE IS A REDUCTION IN PROPERTY VALUES. THERE WAS A REPORT THAT ESTIMATED THAT IF MILWAUKEE COULD REDUCE ITS HOMICIDE RATE BY ABOUT 10% IT WOULD GAIN ABOUT $800 MILLION IN REAL ESTATE VALUE BACK. THEN THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INDIRECT COSTS YOU CAN’T REALLY PUT A PRICE ON. FOR INSTANCE, THE INVESTMENT INTO SCHOOL SECURITY SYSTEMS BECAUSE OF GUN VIOLENCE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING SANDY HOOK. THERE HAS BEEN ABOUT 90% OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE IMPLEMENTED OR PLANNING TO IMPLEMENT REFORMS. AND THEN THERE ARE THE IMPACTS OF WITNESSING A VIOLENT CRIME WHICH CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE, OF DEPRESSION, OF DRUG ABUSE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE. AND THEN THERE IS ALSO FEAR, WHICH IS A VERY DIFFICULT AMOUNT TO PUT A DOLLAR AMOUNT ON. PEOPLE WHO WOULD GO TO — WHO WON’T GO TO MILWAUKEE BECAUSE THEY’RE AFRAID THAT THAT SOMETHING LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAUDAIRE MIGHT HAPPEN TO THEM.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

SEAN KIRKBY, THANKS VERY MUCH. YOUR REPORTING APPEARS ON SUNDAY ONLINE AND IN NEWSPAPERS ACROSS THE STATE.

SEAN KIRKBY:

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.