Chicago’s ShotSpotter Devices to Be Removed, Contract Expires – NBC Chicago

The company behind controversial gunfire detection technology ShotSpotter will begin removing its sensors in Chicago on Monday, hours after its contract with the city expires.

ShotSpotter will stop sending its data to Chicago police at midnight unless Mayor Brandon Johnson issues a last-minute order or introduces an innovation. On Thursday, the device’s parent company, SoundThinking, said it would begin the process of removing about 2,000 sensors starting Monday.

A day earlier, Johnson suggested he would veto City Council action to preserve the technology.

Johnson was asked what he would do with the city funds previously earmarked for ShotSpotter. He suggested the city was interested in investing in other technologies and communities that he said have been historically underserved.

“We’re open to technology, but it has to be technology that works. So it’s not just about redirecting (funds). It’s about making sure the people of Chicago get what they deserve,” Johnson told reporters Thursday.

A review of research published on ShotSpotter by NBC 5 Investigates finds that opinions are divided.

An August 2021 study by the Chicago Office of Inspector General found that “ShotSpotter alerts rarely provide evidence of a firearms crime, rarely lead to arrests for investigation, and even less often lead to the recovery of evidence of a firearms crime.”

Two months later, in October 2021, the Journal of Urban Health published a study that examined the impact of ShotSpotter on gun homicides, murders, and gun arrests in 68 metropolitan areas between 1999 and 2016. The study found that “ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on gun homicides or arrest outcomes. Policy solutions may be a more cost-effective means of reducing gun violence in cities,” the study reads.

During a council committee hearing earlier this month, former CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson and SoundThinking’s corporate vice president spoke to councilors about the technology — pointing to recently released data gathered with the help of the Chicago Police Department and the city’s Office of Emergency Operations and Communications, which showed that between January and August of this year, ShotSpotter detected 29,829 “alerts,” leading to the recovery of 29,214 shell casings and 470 firearms.

No details were provided on the number of detected shots in a given “alert” or whether the recovered weapon was located near where the shots were detected.

Data also indicates that ShotSpotter alerts result in faster response times than shooting reports submitted by callers alone.