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The costly system led to police brutality and discrimination against the population.
Chicago police have stopped using the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, which has long drawn criticism for its excessive police presence in poor and minority neighborhoods.
ShotSpotter works with the help of microphones and artificial intelligence to recognize the sounds of gunshots, but often mistakes other loud sounds for them. This leads to increased patrolling, especially in black areas where such systems are installed.
Chicago abandoned ShotSpotter after a standoff between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council. During his election campaign, Johnson promised to remove the system, as it provokes more shutdowns and searches in poor areas. In addition, the mayor noted that the system is ineffective, calling it "walkie-talkies on a stick", on which almost $ 100 million was spent.
According to the manufacturer, ShotSpotter is used in more than 160 cities in the United States. In Chicago, the system has been in operation since 2012 and was significantly expanded in 2017, especially in poor black neighborhoods. According to a July report, two such neighborhoods are 75% and 95% black.
There are 25,580 ShotSpotter microphones installed nationwide, and approximately 70% of the residents of areas with this system are African American or Hispanic. The median household income in these areas is about $50,000 per year.
Audits in Chicago and New York have shown that the system rarely leads to arrests for gun crimes. In Chicago, only 9% of the more than 50,000 ShotSpotter signals were related to armed crime. And in New York, only 13% of the alerts were confirmed shootings.
Last year, the privacy advocacy organization EPIC called on the U.S. attorney general to stop funding ShotSpotter or investigate the system's use. The petition noted that the technology violates civil rights, leading to excessive police activity in minority areas.
In one case, a man spent nearly a year in jail due to flawed evidence based on ShotSpotter. The man was arrested on charges of killing a young man during a riot.
Source
Chicago police have stopped using the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, which has long drawn criticism for its excessive police presence in poor and minority neighborhoods.
ShotSpotter works with the help of microphones and artificial intelligence to recognize the sounds of gunshots, but often mistakes other loud sounds for them. This leads to increased patrolling, especially in black areas where such systems are installed.
Chicago abandoned ShotSpotter after a standoff between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council. During his election campaign, Johnson promised to remove the system, as it provokes more shutdowns and searches in poor areas. In addition, the mayor noted that the system is ineffective, calling it "walkie-talkies on a stick", on which almost $ 100 million was spent.
According to the manufacturer, ShotSpotter is used in more than 160 cities in the United States. In Chicago, the system has been in operation since 2012 and was significantly expanded in 2017, especially in poor black neighborhoods. According to a July report, two such neighborhoods are 75% and 95% black.
There are 25,580 ShotSpotter microphones installed nationwide, and approximately 70% of the residents of areas with this system are African American or Hispanic. The median household income in these areas is about $50,000 per year.
Audits in Chicago and New York have shown that the system rarely leads to arrests for gun crimes. In Chicago, only 9% of the more than 50,000 ShotSpotter signals were related to armed crime. And in New York, only 13% of the alerts were confirmed shootings.
Last year, the privacy advocacy organization EPIC called on the U.S. attorney general to stop funding ShotSpotter or investigate the system's use. The petition noted that the technology violates civil rights, leading to excessive police activity in minority areas.
In one case, a man spent nearly a year in jail due to flawed evidence based on ShotSpotter. The man was arrested on charges of killing a young man during a riot.
Source
