WYOMING, Mich. — Election day is almost here.
Residents in Wyoming shared their personal experiences with public safety, as they waited to hear the fate of the city's police and fire millage, which will be decided on Tuesday.
Last January, Lauren Gohlke and her family went through some tense moments. They were driving when they noticed their one-month-old son was struggling to breathe and turning purplish-red. Her husband quickly took action.
“So he ran inside, started performing CPR right inside our door, and I called 911,” said Gohlke.
A couple of minutes later, two Wyoming police officers arrived and took over, performing CPR and placing an AED on Emerson. The fire department also showed up to help.
“They took over and they were able to get Emerson breathing. He made a little noise and started breathing on his own,” said Gohlke.
She credits their quick response as the reason her son is alive today. Gohlke is one of many who came out Sunday, to share their experiences with Wyoming first responders and educate voters on the upcoming public safety millage.
“Sooner that we can have our men and women in uniform to arrive at a scene, the sooner the chaos becomes a little more calm,” said Chaplain Rick Pilieci.
He says voting “yes” on the public safety millage is necessary to hire more officers and firefighters who are able to respond quickly.
Chaplain Pilieci adds, there’s less than 100 officers in Wyoming covering every position in law enforcement. Even a handful more would help tremendously.
“So 27 is our number of officers and firefighters that are needed,” said Pilieci.
Mayor Kent Vanderwood echoed that need, calling the current average response time, which is a little more than five minutes, unacceptable.
“We simply do not have enough police officers to cover all of our shifts and do the things we need to do,” said Vanderwood.
He adds, if the millage passes, it will allow more police officers and firefighters to be hired. It will also help reduce the response time for emergencies.
Officials say another thing to keep in mind is addressing the rise in violent crime.
So far this year, there have been four homicides in the city. Officials are asking voters for a 1.5 mil increase over the next five years, with more than $3.8 million dollars raised in its first year.
A previous version of this story misspelled the Wyoming Mayor Vanderwood's name. We regret this error and have corrected the mistake.
