Shotspotter

[jglevyjr]

Good: gets law enforcement where they need to be fast (maybe)?
Bad: another government information collection agency
ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection and Location Service | Protect Critical Infrastructure, Campuses, Cities

Creating a ?Fire Alarm? for Terror Attacks - WSJ

 

[Bigtanker]

South Bend installed this a few years ago. It was pushed by the new police cheif, who just retired and went to work for ShotSpotter.

Yeah it gets the police on the way but I'm not sure how well it helps catch the shooter.

 

[Cet2survivor]

Our police use it down here. It has so so results. It alerts the police when shots are fired . It also picks up fireworks. It works great when we are on the ambulance and there are shots fired nearby (if we can't hear them ,ie if inside buildings) we are notified via radio of shot spotter going off in our area . Typically Leo starts rolling to the area of the shots pretty fast . From Ems standpoint, it's hit and miss with us finding anyone injured . Typically down here most of the victims drive themselves or have friends drive them to the hospital. So having shot spotter doesn't help anyone get Ems faster. I honestly don't remember the last time shot spotter helped catch the shooter down here. Most of the time Leo arrives , the shooter is long gone.

 

[17 squirrel]

Washington DC has had it about eight years, Pittsburgh and Denver also use it.
Baltimore passed on buying it, for it being to expensive.

 

[Dead Duck]

I would think it's more about getting faster help to potential victims than catching suspects. That is if they're found in time for the initial call in.
Neat toy......I guess.

 

[phylodog]

They did a demo here several years ago. I was asked my opinion and stated that if they bought it, I expected the city to pay me $40 million to install license plate cameras on street signs that will alert us of where a stolen vehicle was.

Nowhere near the investment in my opinion.

 

[BugI02]

+1 Phylo. Works off shot noise arrival times at known positions to calculate origin of shots. Confused by reflected noise and accuracy directly related to number of receivers and how well distributed they are. Rarely gives an accurate enough plot to narrow it down to a single address except under the most ideal conditions.

 

[actaeon277]

Local Shot Spotter Testing Had Flaws, But Won?t Delay Implementation « CBS Pittsburgh

But both the police and SST Shot Spotter, which designed the system, downplay the problems, saying it’s just part of the testing process.

“We’ve seen the average response time go from over nine minutes to under 30 seconds,” said Assistant Chief Orlando Cuevas of the Camden Police Department.
(I find that a bit hard to believe. An average time of under 30 seconds)


Suffolk Legislator Cilmi calls ShotSpotter a failure, wants refund | News 12 Long Island

Suffolk Legislator Cilmi calls ShotSpotter a failure, wants refund

The legislator is pointing to a police report that identified 93 percent of shots identified by the system as false alarms. The system also missed 18 confirmed gunshots, according to the report.

“The fact is it hasn't generated any arrests and it hasn't saved any lives,” says Cilmi.


FOX CT Investigation: Is Costly Gunshot Detection System Worth the Cost? | FOX 61

Does ShotSpotter Technology Really Work?


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Does ShotSpotter Technology Really Work?
It's a system that cities have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on, but does it really work? Fox CT's Beau Berman investigates the technology known as ShotSpotter, which helps detect gunshots. Some say the system works, but in other cases the technology picks up false positives and sends police to the scene for nothing.
WTIC - Hartford, CT










It’s touted as a high-tech way to curb gun violence but some say the system that Connecticut cities are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on, is a drain on taxpayer and police resources. The problem is that the system has struggled to identify gunfire, picked up false positives and in some cases, sent police to the scene for nothing.
After some adjustments, the system has seen vast improvement, but the question remains, whether it’s worth the money…

But that’s only when it’s working and the problem is that so far, ShotSpotter has mostly backfired. During an analysis of ShotSpotter in spring 2012, police records show that out of 60 total alerts, only six were confirmed, meaning the system was only 10 percent accurate. Nearly a year later, an interdepartmental police memo shows the system’s accuracy on 27 alerts was even lower, at just eight percent. Two of those 27 alerts were labeled as gunfire but really weren’t, including one which was just noise from a snow plow.

 

[17 squirrel]

I equate it to the fired cartridge law Maryland had for years that never helped solve any crimes and cost millions to buy and opperate.
A huge waste of tax payer money.

 

[Cygnus]

Boston has had it for awhile. It works great to spot the shot apparently. Within a a few yards at best I think. Even down to which caliber. Also filter out backfires, fireworks, etc. Price was crazy. $100k per square something....
Anyway it works good if the shooter doesn't move......I know it gets officers to the scene of possssible other crimes.

 

[actaeon277]

Boston has had it for awhile. It works great to spot the shot apparently. Within a a few yards at best I think. Even down to which caliber. Also filter out backfires, fireworks, etc. Price was crazy. $100k per square something....
Anyway it works good if the shooter doesn't move......I know it gets officers to the scene of possssible other crimes.

That sounds like it was written by a shot spotter salesman.
I'm reading multiple estimations of it. One common theme I'm seeing, is that there is not a single study determining if it works.
Well, there are some small studies, that have been deemed too small to be of use.

There have been no fully independent studies of ShotSpotter and its effectiveness. In 2011, ShotSpotter commissioned CSG Analysis to perform an evaluation (PDF) of ShotSpotter. The study, paid for by ShotSpotter but, according to the analysts, conducted independently, was too small to allow for quantitative analysis. Instead, the analysts looked for "themes." A prominent theme was that "false system activations" drove police dispatchers "bananas." There were so many false alarms that police officers stopped keeping track of them, rendering any statistical data from their systems meaningless.

https://www.cctvcambridge.org/DoesShotSpotterWork

Troy NY's police department had enough of ShotSpotter, discontinuing its use at the end of 2012. The system was missing actual gunshots and falsely reporting other noises as shots. According to The Troy Record, when Troy police were polled at roll call about ShotSpotter, they were unanimous in calling it ineffective. Troy will sell their system as surplus.

Take Suffolk County, NY's experience. Suffolk's ShotSpotter system suffered so many false alarms that the company had to adjust its algorithms to be more discriminating. Even after the adjustment, a report (pdf) by Suffolk County police to the County legislature stated that, over an eight month period, only 6.5% of ShotSpotter's 212 activations could be confirmed as an actual gunshot. Over 30% were confirmed as false alarms. The remaining events remain undetermined.

But that data is a few years old, and tech changes.
But dealing with tech sales reps, they always want to promise me the moon. "Won't rust, bust, or collect dust".
"This system never needs to be adjusted. Why would you ask how to adjust it?"
"This system works great for the firefighters" (failed to tell us they only use it for short instances, not the 24 hour/365 day coverage we needed)
"It works great in factories" (chocolate. big difference from a friggin steel mill).

Anyway, yes, I am leery of salesmen's claims.
I like to see the data myself.

And I don't really see much on this, except how great it's "gonna" be, and how much it cost. Not much data "after" the money is spent.
That doesn't bode well to me.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Im a hard core wireless geek and I like the overall tech of shot spotter. It appears to be solid. As an automated tool of "shots fired at 10th and main" its a cool product. And if properly installed can do wonders. I have seen reports of shotspotter able to not only nail down the first shot, but also follow ups as in a drive by where they report the initial shots, and then subsequent shots as the thugs sprayed and prayed for a block or two "northbound on Oak, starting at 12th and ending at 15th" where the casings corroborated the audible evidence.

While its no substitute for LEOs, * IF PROPERLY INSTALLED* it can provide very beneficial info to the police in places you would be nervous going to at noon, let alone 9pm.

Most of the negative reports of the tech make me ask who installed them and whether they were qualified. Even a perfect device is rendered moot if its not installed properly.

 

[actaeon277]

https://www.ksat.com/news/shotspotter-program-stripped-from-city-budget
ShotSpotter program stripped from proposed city budget

"The measure of success for the police department would be arrests and case closures, and we have not seen it at all. We've gotten four arrests," McManus said.

 

[patience0830]

How long before the mopes figure out what it is and start shooting AT it?

Waste of money.

 

[Leadeye]

Always follow the money

 

[phylodog]

Color me shocked

 

[actaeon277]

Color me shocked

You'll have to give me a clue what color "shocked" is.
I don't do chartreuse, teal, etc.
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. And shades thereof. Those are the only ones I know.

 

[phylodog]

I'm offended that you would ask such a thing

 

[Peacekeeper3073]

Louisville Metro used it the other day I saw on the news. Went to the area and found 10-0 subject in street. Never heard if an arrest was made but at least it took them to where it occurred. Of course the first 911 call in would have done the same for a lot less money.

 

[actaeon277]

I'm offended that you would ask such a thing

I'm offended that you're offended.