Cities vs. Gun Shot Locating Technology

What is happening? The Mayor of Seattle has supported gun shot locating technology for nearly a decade since he was a city council member. The technology installs microphones and triangulates the sound. One of the apps, ShotSpotter, claims a 97% effective rate. Meanwhile in Dayton, OH the city will not renew its ShotSpotter contract because even with successes, it “could not show that the software has done enough to reduce crime to justify its cost”

Why does this matter? A study from Northwest University analyzed 2 years of ShotSpotter data from Chicago, and found that “90% of ShotSpotter alerts lead police to find no evidence to corroborate gunfire.” Shot spotter did change how police officers interacted in the area.

GeekWire | Seattle mayor makes another bid for city to use controversial gunshot detection technology