OSHKOSH ― The city’s recent rise in gun crimes hasn’t gone unnoticed by authorities.
The Oshkosh Police Department said it’s undertaking a number of initiatives, including revising a Street Crimes Enforcement initiative, after seeing a 60% uptick in weapons-related complaints this year.
Addressing the June 16 Common Council meeting, Chief of Police Dean Smith revealed the department has already received 40 calls of service for weapons complaints in 2026 as opposed to 25 such calls between Jan. 1 and June 15 last year.
According to Smith, 25 of those 40 complaints have been gun-related calls, representing a 25% increase from the same period in 2025.
Five of the calls this year were related to felons being in possession of firearms.
“The why is always something for crime prevention that you want to work for but certainly there are more guns here in town that we’re identifying,” Smith told the council.
“We’re analyzing the data at this time to see what exactly we can glean from that data.”
OPD’s data confirmed widespread online speculation that the city was experiencing significantly more gun-related incidents in 2026 following recent unrelated incidents.
How the city is responding to recent gun-related incidents
Earlier this month, a 42-year-old man was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon on Wisconsin Street before a 20-year-old woman was arrested for firing a gun in the air following a large physical fight at Pollock Pool.
Another 44-year-old Oshkosh man faces seven felony charges due to a weapons standoff with the SWAT team in May while a 17-year-old bystander was shot after an altercation during April’s unsanctioned Pub Crawl event.
In response, Smith said the department has started staffing officers on overtime to patrol “hotspots” over the weekend as part of a new Street Crimes Enforcement initiative.
OPD also provided additional gun crime training in an effort to educate officers on tactics while bars are seeing more police presence during closing times as a visual deterrent to crime activity.
Following the Pollock Pool incident, the city’s Parks Department now requires that all people have an ID to enter the pool. All children younger than 12 must also be accompanied by adults.
“This is an ongoing effort, we’re going to continue to work on it,” Smith said, adding the department’s crime analyst is gathering intelligence on further unsanctioned events.
“It just takes time, effort and resources and that’s what we’re currently doing right now to slow things down a little bit for us.”
Community seeks cause of gun crime spike
Prior to Smith’s address, council member Paul Esslinger asked residents on Facebook for their questions regarding crime in Oshkosh.
The post garnered over 200 responses, with several community members inquiring about the root cause of the spike in gun-related incidents.
Recent national trends run counter to the recent Oshkosh experience, with FBI data showing a 9.1% drop in reported violent crimes between March 2025 and last February.
Nationally recognized crime data analyst Jeff Asher said the U.S. is on track to record its lowest gun-related homicide rate ever recorded by the FBI this year.
Mayor Matt Mugerauer was hesitant about asking for current national trends while Smith acknowledged that there are more guns being brought into the city.
Smith didn’t make any immediate requests of Common Council at the meeting, but Mugerauer stated that public safety is his priority when addressing budgets.
“If we don’t have enough resources to maintain a high quality of life from a law enforcement perspective, I would be interested to know that,” said Mugerauer.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh police address surge in local gun-related incidents
Reporting by Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern | USA TODAY Network
