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Gunshot detection technology has been rolled out in various cities across the country as an aid to law enforcement agencies for both tracking and reporting firearm violence. ShotSpotter, one such system deployed in parts of Virginia and Chicago, among other locations, is designed to detect audible gunshot signals and determine the location of the report. The technology has seen mixed results, however, with tangible benefits in places like Virginia Beach and Newport News, while at the same time being decommissioned in Chicago, where city officials are actively seeking a potential replacement. 

When ShotSpotter’s acoustic sensors capture what are believed to be gunshots in a specified coverage area, algorithms work to determine the location and authenticity of the audio before it is examined by experts to distinguish the report from similar sounds, like fireworks or backfiring vehicles. Staff at 24-hour incident centers also work to ascertain additional information, such as the possibility of multiple shooters, before the report is transferred to dispatchers and, ultimately, first responders. According to ShotSpotter, the entire process takes less than 60 seconds.

Police in Virginia Beach began using the system on a trial basis in July 2021 before entering into a formal contract with ShotSpotter. Without disclosing the exact location of the sensors, which cover an approximately two square mile radius, initial sensors were deployed near Rudee Loop, north to 42nd Street, and west to Birdneck Road.

As of 2024, Virginia Beach has expanded ShotSpotter coverage to all four police precincts, having found that the system aids in response time to gunfire without heavy reliance on 911 calls. Virginia Beach authorities have documented 1,232 incidents, or 77% of police responses to gunfire, resulting from the ShotSpotter detection and reporting since the system’s 2021 implementation. 

Virginia Beach Police Chief, Paul Nerdigate cites a  53% reduction in firearm homicides in the last year with 52% fewer shooting victims in general. 

“ShotSpotter continues to be a game-changer for our department…It allows us to respond to gunfire incidents in real time, often within seconds, which significantly reduces response times. This technology helps us better allocate our resources, protect communities and gather critical evidence we might otherwise miss,” said Neudigate.

In Newport News, authorities have also seen a decline in shooting-related deaths since implementing ShotSpotter and have improved the ability of police to respond to incidents even when there are no 911 calls made. Such an incident occurred in the summer of 2024 when residents heard shots in succession but did not necessarily see anything that made them decide to file a report. ShotSpotter was able to lead police to Wayne Hill, 34, who had been lying in the grass between a row of apartments, suffering from a gunshot wound. Although he later died in the hospital, the system’s ability to locate and report the shooting can provide victims a fighting chance.

Meanwhile, where nothing seems to work, the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side is preparing to try a new system from Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), a subsidiary of alarm.com, having decommissioned ShotSpotter after a 2017 – 2024 run costing taxpayers roughly $50 million. SDS claims that the false alarms reported throughout the city using ShotSpotter will be avoided with its system which uses infrared cameras to detect muzzle flash to confirm that an audible report is a gunshot.

“You would have cameras activated showing you exactly what the shooter looks like…You’d be able to track that shooter throughout the facility or outside in the neighborhood,” says the security operations manager for Alarm.com, Marquis McClure.

The systems, however, are not free from skepticism and pushback.

“Raymond Lopez is just brushing shoulders at these companies that want to take ShotSpotter’s market share…It doesn’t alter the underlying causes of violence. If anything, it just accelerates punishment and punitive structures. It just throws people in jail,” says Alejandro Ruizesparza from technology watchdog, Lucy Parsons Labs.

I am not sure I agree that there isn’t great value in catching criminals and bringing them to justice after a shooting. I am, however, skeptical of the kickbacks on government contracts and tax dollars being spent on technology while law enforcement agencies remain underfunded, with the Chicago Police Department having exceeded its budget almost every year since 2013. It’s also not clear in areas that cite a reduction in violent crime and homicides since implementing shot-recognition technology if the technology has done anything to actually lead to that reduction in crime or if it is simply making it easier for police to respond more quickly.




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18 COMMENTS

  1. We tried it in Troy near the Capital. Apparently the hills throughout the city caused numerous inaccuracies which showed an overwhelming majority of the gunshots in predominantly black regions with known ….. people who know each other and commit crimes together (pc speak for gangs) activity. This of course is racist and obviously incorrect so we stopped using the defunct system and stopped paying for the contract 4 years later. Fun times.

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    • Probably why Shotspotter failed in Chicago. The urban environment is similar to a hilly area acoustically and the echoing either confused or overloaded the sensors resulting in false positives or misdirections.

      • Perhaps too tongue in cheek, the system was accurate the overwhelming majority of the time to the point it was inconvenient in the data produced.

  2. AG Barr was correct. The more ath.eist we come as a country the more we spend on “Stuff.”

    There were vastly more guns in the big cities 100 years ago. And there were vastly fewer shots being fired too.

    • I doubt there’s a single atheist in those urban neighborhoods where the bulk of US murders occur. There are defining characteristics, but atheism isn’t one.

      Try single motherhood…

      • “Try single motherhood”

        Well, according to the atheists, they said a father is not necessary in the home. Because they disagreed with the Christians who said a father’s love and discipline is necessary in the home.

        In fact the atheists are big supporters of having the government and everybody’s bedroom. because the atheists are big supporters of the welfare industrial complex.

        And the atheists are not supporters of private church welfare. Because the church requires a change in behavior in both public and private.

        The atheist will always prefer secular government spending on social matters. Because they call themselves non judgmental.

        They would never say that a woman having five kids from five different men, and never getting married is wrong. They would never say that her decisions are causing social problems.

        Because atheists are “champagne socialists” or their “champagne libertarians.” They don’t live in the cities or areas where these social problems are created and magnified.

        But they certainly do encourage this and other destructive personal behavior.

        • So the a.th.e-is.ts say there is a separation between church and state. And they are very comfortable spending american government money on other important subjects.

          h
          ttps://kathmandupost.com/national/2024/03/27/rpp-chair-lingden-raises-concern-about-reports-of-atheism-promotion-by-the-us-in-nepal

  3. The Shooter Detection Systems (SDS) subsidiary of alarm.com requires line-of-sight for visual confirmation, which will require at least one sensor per block (probably at the intersections). This is ~10-100X more than SS (~20/sq. mile). Good luck with that.

    It’s good that the author attempted to have some balance in the article, but repeated several a few false memes about ShotSpotter (SS). The accusation of SS false alarms is due to the fact that if police arrive at the scene and don’t find a body or a witness, they don’t usually take the time to do an extensive search for shell casings. SS’s contract with the cities guarantee that 90% of the time they will be w/in 82′. A circle with 82′ radius is about a half-acre, so it’s understandable that they don’t search the entire area. The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.
    The claim that “nothing works” is contradicted by this U. of Chicago study that found that it probably saved 85 lives per year in Chicago: https://harris.uchicago.edu/news-events/news/civic-committee-leaders-mayor-johnson-dont-cancel-shotspotter-unless-you-can
    More BS debunked here: https://www.soundthinking.com/soundthinking-responds-to-false-claims/

    • Just to make sure all the facts posted here are facts…SDS system isn’t a line of sight system though I agree that it isn’t meant for city wide deployments.

  4. “…it just accelerates punishment and punitive structures. It just throws people in jail…” thereby altering the “underlying causes of violence,” jagwads on the street with weapons.
    feature.

  5. Perhaps the author is new to this stuff, but “ShotSpotter” was demonstrated to be a useless fraud MANY years ago. Being purchased with BS fed grants it wasn’t “real” budget $ so no one involved CARED if it worked. All about the spending (and the graft).

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