Milwaukee violence prevention office using new 'cluster' research to prevent shootings
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Milwaukee police responded to multiple shootings throughout the city Labor Day weekend.
Julien Phifer is a program manager with the city’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety.
“Obviously the events that we saw over the weekend have been unfortunate, but we got teams out there working to address these issues,” Phifer said.
On Sunday, CBS 58 sat down with Phifer to discuss a new research process being used to help prevent shootings.
Working with police, the department has created 26 zones, also known as clusters, where shootings are more prone to happen.
“We will be leading an effort to bring resources, engagement activity and we know that violence is not evenly distributed across our city, there’s places that it concentrates, we will be concentrating those efforts in those places,” Phifer said.
According to the latest police data, homicides and non-fatal shootings are down in 2026 compared to 2025 and 2024.
“There are people in certain places that will tell you that’s not what they’re seeing and that’s what we want to respond to,” Phifer said.
This year, 90% of the shootings reported in Milwaukee have been in the 26 cluster zones. That's where the majority of the focus will be, as we close out summer and head toward the end of the year.
