Elmira City Council to vote on gunshot detection software

The Elmira City Council will vote on purchasing gunshot detection software during its Monday evening meeting at City Hall.

The software will analyze recordings from 40 microphones placed on existing lamp posts around the city to identify shootings. It is sold by SHI International Corporation, a New Jersey-based IT firm.

The software will be Cost city ​​$64,615.38 for a two-year subscription to the service. Funding comes from state funds Law Enforcement Technology (LETECH) Grantawarded this year to the Elmira Police Department.

Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne said the microphones will capture sound within a 90-foot radius of the noise, and the software will notify police if it’s a gunshot or something else, like fireworks. However, the microphones can’t capture individual conversations, according to Thorne.

Thorne said the police department will monitor the data’s usefulness in reducing gun violence in the city.

“I look at it like, (a), ‘Hey, we’ll try this,’” Thorne said. “If it doesn’t work, (if) it creates problems, then we’re not going to renew any kind of subscription or contract with it when push comes to shove. That’s how I look at it. So if the data it shows isn’t worth the effort, why would we keep it?”

It is unclear exactly where in the city the microphones will be placed. Thorne declined to provide geographic information.

“I just hope that this helps to deter some of the gun violence that’s going on in the city of Elmira,” Thorne said. “That’s the ultimate goal, (to) make the city a safer place.”

WSKG contacted the city members of the council about the surveillance program and received a response from two people.

Nanette Moss, who represents the 6th District, said the program provides a “valuable tool” for law enforcement and will allow police to respond to shootings more quickly. Moss also said she has not heard from her constituents about whether they support or oppose the program.

Fourth Ward Councilmember Gary Brinn wrote in an email to WSKG that he supports the system but is concerned about what he describes as “the rising costs of law enforcement and technology.”

Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), told WSKG in an email that “protecting communities from gun violence is paramount,” but added that with this type of technology, “armed police are constantly rushing into unfounded, unconfirmed shootings — wasting people’s money and increasing police presence in neighborhoods for no reason.”

Schwarz added that “the Elmira City Council should consider how this money could be better spent on services that actually improve public safety and community relations.”

The NYCLU suggests on its website that municipalities invest In communities where there is more housing, health care, and public education, and at the same time reduced police funding and presence, we need to demilitarize the police, end mass surveillance programs, and increase the number of school counselors, not police officers.

The city also purchased radios for all police officers and robots for the SWAT unit with funds from a LETECH grant this year.