If you hear gunfire in downtown Denver on Thursday night, don’t panic. It most likely will be a set of controlled shots to test an expanding monitoring system that alerts officers to actual shootings.

Officials with the police department and the Downtown Denver Partnership have scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning to explain the test of the newly installed equipment.

But meanwhile, they want the public to know about the testing, which will occur between 6 and 11 p.m.

“During the tests, a bullet trap will be used to ensure public safety – no bullets will be fired into the air or ground and there is no danger to the public,” a police department press release stated.

Police said they chose those hours because most shooting occur at night and in the early morning hours, when the acoustics are different.

An existing shot detection system in northwest Denver also will be calibrated.

The gunshot detection system is aimed at speeding up police response by pinpointing the location of the gunfire. The vendor, ShotSpotter, then notifies 911 operators of the incident, police said.