The milwaukee county sheriffs office is seeking $439,336 in federal funds to support its enhancing DE-escalation training and crisis response project

The Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program awarded the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office $439,336 on October 1, 2025, under the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants program (CFDA 16.710) to implement an Enhancing De-Escalation Training and Crisis Response project.

The Sheriff's Office will contract with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Southeast Wisconsin to conduct monthly de-escalation and crisis intervention training for Milwaukee County Sheriff's and correctional staff. The award also funds a virtual reality training application that allows trainees to apply learned techniques to simulated real-life scenarios. The project targets a reduction in use-of-force incidents by increasing officers' utilization of verbal and non-lethal tactics in the field.

Performance occurs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The period of performance runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027. This is a Project Grant assistance type.

Specifically, funding will support the mcso contracting with the national alliance on mental illness southeast wisconsin (nami) to host monthly training sessions for milwaukee county sheriffs and correctional staff. Monthly trainings will focus on DE-escalation tactics and crisis intervention techniques. In addition, funds will support the costs of a virtual reality training application to complement the monthly training, by applying what was learned to real-life scenarios. The projected outcomes are that more officers will utilize verbal and non-lethal tactics in the field, resulting in a decrease in the use of force incidents.