GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis stopped by the Local Five studio on Thursday to discuss the recent increase in auto thefts, Green Bay’s drug take-back day, and the landlord training program.

Since the start of the year, Green Bay has seen an increase in auto theft and attempted auto theft, especially on Kia, Hyundai, and Honda vehicles. Earlier this week, the Green Bay Police Department actually referred charges to nearly a dozen teens as part of these auto thefts.

Chief Davis says this comes as teens continue to get bad ideas from social media. He says he would not be surprised if they refer chargers to more teens in the near future. He also said that the punishment for these teens can vary.

“It really is up to the juvenile courts and it’s a function of their history and their individual needs and how they got there. Some of them could be looking at some time in secure confinement.”

To try and combat the recent increase in auto thefts, while Chief Davis couldn’t provide too many details on the exact procedures, he did mention that the police department is investigating each individual case and that the department is taking proactive steps towards controlling this issue.

Also on the rise is the abuse of prescription drugs. Chief Davis says it’s actually on the rise everywhere and has been since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s on the rise everywhere, it’s a huge issue, it’s related to problems that we see with illegal drugs like fentanyl especially. It mirrors nationwide trends and increases in drug use that we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic.”

Chief Davis says that a good way to prevent abusing prescription drugs is to get rid of any unused or unwanted drugs in the home. The Green Bay Police Department is holding a drug take-back event on April 22 as a way for the public to safely dispose of those unwanted or unneeded drugs.

The Green Bay Police Department is hosting another event on April 25, it’s their landlord training program. The event will take place at the Neville Museum and Chief Davis says the training is important because it helps landlords deal with what he calls ‘chronic nuisance situations.’

“Once in a while, you will have a tenant who unfortunately is involved with drug activity or other sort of nuisance activity that has a really significant impact on the neighborhood. And so we try to educate landlords on how to avoid those situations from developing in the first place.”

Chief Davis says there will also be a tenant training program that takes place in early May.