How this works

Kettle Moraine Scanner Report posts local fire, police, and traffic incidents for the Kettle Moraine area, written automatically from public-safety radio. Here's how a post gets made, and the rules every post follows.

Where the information comes from

• Our own radio receiver in Washington County listens to unencrypted police and fire dispatch channels, the same traffic anyone can hear on a scanner. Encrypted channels, like many police tactical channels, can't be heard and aren't covered.
• WisDOT 511 Wisconsin supplies official crashes, closures, winter road conditions, and travel alerts for the Roads page. Construction and roadwork aren't covered.

How a post is made

1. Transcribed. Speech recognition turns each radio transmission into text. Transmissions that are mostly static or too garbled to trust are dropped.
2. Written. An AI system groups related transmissions into one incident and writes a short, plain summary.
3. Fact-checked. A second, separate AI check compares the summary against the actual transmissions. If it says anything the radio didn't, the post is held.
4. Checked against our rules (below). Posts that break them aren't published.
5. Published on this site and our Facebook page, after the delay described next.

No person reviews posts before they go up. The rules and checks above are built in so that the system holds back whenever it isn't sure.

The 20-minute delay

Incidents are posted at least 20 minutes after the last radio traffic about them, so a developing incident isn't posted while it's still active. The delay:

• protects responders, by never broadcasting where crews or officers are during a call,
• protects the privacy of the people involved, and keeps onlookers from heading to a scene,
• and gives a more complete, more accurate picture than the first few transmissions do.

What we never post

• Sensitive calls: medical emergencies, mental-health and self-harm calls, deaths, sexual assault, domestic disputes, welfare checks, and anything involving children.
• Personal details: names, ages, phone numbers, license plates, or dates of birth.
• Exact addresses: locations are given as a hundred-block ("400 block of Main St"), an intersection, or a landmark.
• Guesses: causes, injuries, or outcomes the radio traffic doesn't state. A person is "a suspect" or "a driver", never "the criminal".
• Routine chatter: traffic stops with no follow-up, status checks, and radio tests.

Accuracy and corrections

Radio traffic is preliminary, and early reports are often wrong. Posts are updated automatically as more traffic comes in, and an update that fails our checks takes the post down, from Facebook too.

See something wrong, or want something removed? Use the Report a correction link under any incident, or the contact form. We read every message.

The map

Map locations are approximate, accurate to about a block, so a pin never points at a single home. When only the town is known, the map shows the general area of the town.

Scanner status

The light at the top of the home page shows whether our radio receiver is working. Green means it's online and listening, even if the radio happens to be quiet. Red means the receiver is down, and new incidents won't appear until it's back.

Advertising and support

Local businesses can advertise here. Ads and sponsored Facebook posts are always labeled "Sponsored", and advertisers have no say over what the site reports. Reader support (chip in here) helps pay for the server, the radio equipment, and the AI that writes the posts.

This is not an official source

Nothing here is a statement from any police, fire, or government agency. For official information, contact the agency directly. For emergencies, call 911. This site isn't monitored around the clock and can't be used to report emergencies.

More about the information we collect: Privacy policy.