Public Safety Committee to take up ShotSpotter expansion, pot penalties
A proposal to significantly expand the ShotSpotter gunshot detection area in Milwaukee will be discussed by the Public Safety Committee.
A proposal to significantly expand the ShotSpotter gunshot detection area in Milwaukee (and Milwaukee County) will be discussed by the Public Safety Committee on Thursday, October 2 at City Hall.
Thursday’s Public Safety Committee will begin at 9 a.m. in room 301-B at City Hall, 200 E. Wells St. The meeting will be televised live on the City Channel (Channel 25 on Time Warner Cable in the City of Milwaukee), and on U-Verse Channel 99. Online viewing is available by going to www.city.milwaukee.gov/Channel25.
The ShotSpotter gunshot detection software has been used successfully by Milwaukee police to determine precise locations where shots have been fired in real time, allowing officers to quickly identify likely shooting/crime scenes.
Two files before the committee would accept funds from the State of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County to expand ShotSpotter’s effective range from three square miles to 11 square miles, covering the central city areas of the north and south sides. The state and county are each contributing $175,000. Locations to be included in this expansion include: North side – Clinton Rose, to Washington, Moody, Johnsons, Carver, Lindbergh, Tiefenthaler, Atkinson, Meaux, and Sherman parks, and the Lincoln Creek Parkway; South side – Walker Square, Clarke and Kosciuszko parks.
Other business before the committee on Thursday:
A file that explores how the city might take advantage of recent state legislation (2013 Wisconsin Act 293) that allows cities more authority in determining how citations for marijuana possession (25 grams or less) are handled. Previously, the city was granted the ability to handle disposition of marijuana offenses with a ticket for the first offense, and then the DA and the state prosecuted subsequent offenses. This legislation would enable the city to prosecute (and collect fines for) subsequent offenses, if the DA declines to prosecute.
- A file that would require MPD to collect traffic stop race data, including the driver’s age, address and ethnicity, whether anyone in the car was a minority, how many people were in the car and whether anyone in the car was searched. MPD would have to analyze the data and provide a written report to the Common Council each January.
- A communication from the Milwaukee Police Department relating to body-worn cameras.
- A communication from the Legislative Reference Bureau and Milwaukee Police Department relative to Seattle Law-Enforcement-Assisted Diversion program for marijuana offenders.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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