Milwaukee committee accepts $90,000 grant to expand gunshot-detection system

The City of Milwaukee Public Safety and Health Committee on Jan. 8 approved acceptance of a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to expand the Milwaukee Police Department's gunshot-location system into roughly two additional square miles.

Laura Egan of the Milwaukee Police Department said the expansion would add about $90,000 in grant funding toward a $97,000 implementation and that the department has already identified the target area in District 7. "This adds about $90,000 to help support the increase of the gunshot location program by 2 square miles," Egan said.

Captain Simmert of the MPD Fusion Division described how the acoustic sensors work and how officers use the information: the sensors triangulate an impulsive sound, an analyst confirms whether the noise is gunfire, and officers receive a pin-drop alert in an app to guide response. "The alert comes across essentially within 60 seconds...the sensors triangulate where that sound is coming from," the captain said, adding that the system is "90% accurate to within 22 meters." He said the system has helped officers reach victims and recover shell casings that feed into the NIBIN evidence system.

Committee members asked where the expansion would be sited and how the technology is used operationally. Egan and Captain Simmert said the area boundaries run approximately from East Green Bay Avenue to South Hampton, west to about 68th Street and north to Florist Avenue; officials said the site selection was data-driven based on increases in shootings from 2021'to'2025.

Alderman Sharlyn Moore asked whether residents should still call 911 if they hear suspected gunfire; Captain Simmert urged callers to report incidents to ensure the fastest possible response. The committee adopted the resolution without objection.

The grant expands an existing program the city has used for several years and is intended to provide faster notification to officers and to improve evidence collection, not to replace calls from the public.