New Study Finds Law Enforcement Agencies in Wisconsin Are Under-Utilitizing Federal Gun Tracking Tool

Tuesday, July 16th, 2024 -- 2:00 PM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) A new study finds that law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin are under-utilizing federal tools for tracking guns.

According to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, law enforcement agencies can sign up for a free online platform called e-trace, which enables the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track the path of guns involved in suspected crimes.

An e-trace request can turn up valuable information, including the firearm’s manufacturer, its importer and its first retail purchaser. In Wisconsin, only 48 percent of law enforcement agencies participate in that initiative, according to the study.

And, of the Wisconsin agencies participating in e-trace, only 27 percent are signed up to share that data with other agencies in the state through what’s known as collective data sharing. The research was published by The Joyce Foundation, which advocates for stricter gun control measures.

The study found that smaller police departments are less likely than larger agencies to participate in e-trace. Smaller departments were also less likely to share that data statewide. Lack of awareness is a major reason why, said Tim Daly of The Joyce Foundation.

“They simply don’t know much about it,” Daly said. “And they don’t know much about it because the chief agency responsible for making people aware of it, the ATF … has been so constrained in their resources and their people that they just really aren’t able to go out and explain what it is and what the benefits are.”

And Daly noted that local law enforcement agencies are dealing with their own limitations. “Even though it’s free to sign up, they still need to commit, you know, a person or people to pursuing these strategies,” Daly said.

Nationwide, about 55 percent of law enforcement agencies were signed up for e-trace, making Wisconsin below average, the study found. The three states with the highest e-trace participation rates (New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina) all have policies in place that require law enforcement to trace all guns involved in suspected crimes.

In New Jersey, where 96 percent of agencies were signed up for the program, state law specifies that the tracking must be done via e-trace. Nationwide, only 46 percent of gun-related murders are solved each year, which is lower than the case clearance rate of murders with other types of weapons, according to recent data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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