Smaller Cities Turning to Gunshot Detection to Prevent Gun Violence

ShotSpotter gunshot alerts are delivered real-time to your mobile device so you can respond safely and with confidence. ShotSpotter provides the nearest street address to self-dispatch when the situation warrants; gunshot audio to gain situational awareness, and; precise location of the gunshot to search for evidence.

ShotSpotter, a leader in precision policing solutions, and a Multi- Award Winner in the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, has identified an increasing trend of small cities adopting big city tools for preventing and reducing gun violence.

ShotSpotter collaborated for new contracts with seven U.S. cities, all with populations less than 50,000, to deploy ShotSpotter Respond™, the company’s flagship gunshot detection solution.

In a year of a global pandemic, along with unprecedented social and political unrest, the rate of gun violence has skyrocketed across America.

In an effort to assist small cities address gun violence, ShotSpotter initiated an outreach program specifically for this underserved segment.

(What is ShotSpotter Respond? Find out here. ShotSpotter Respond is still available on a mobile device, desktop or browser. Courtesy of ShotSpotter and YouTube.)

The result has been new ShotSpotter customers adopting the Company’s flagship gunshot detection technology including four that have already been deployed, in North Chicago and Kankakee, Illinois; Monroe, Louisiana; and Ferguson, Missouri,

ShotSpotter Respond™ is also soon-to-be deployed in the cities of McKeesport, Pennsylvania; Mansfield, Ohio; and Freeport, Illinois.

North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr.
North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr.

North Chicago, a suburb 30 miles outside Chicago with 30,000 residents, has been using ShotSpotter since September.

“We are a smaller city, but are no less susceptible to the ravages of gun violence in our community,” explains Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr. of North Chicago.

“Rather than wait for a problem to get out of hand, our city has chosen to preemptively address this issue with ShotSpotter.”

“In just the first three months we have already seen very impressive results.”

“We look forward to the long term impact ShotSpotter will make for the safety of the residents of North Chicago.”

(Learn More about the Impact of ShotSpotter in the Community, courtesy of ShotSpotter and YouTube.)

With approximately 26,000 residents, Kankakee is 60 miles south of Chicago and began its deployment in November.

“We are finding that the ShotSpotter technology is making our community safer in a financially responsible way by maximizing the impact of our officers’ response to shots fired calls,” said Frank Kosman, Kankakee Chief of Police.

Kankakee Chief of Police Frank Kosman
Kankakee Chief of Police Frank Kosman

“With this tool, officers are able to respond quicker and to the precise location of shootings with more information.”

“Giving agencies of our size access to this important tool is critical for increasing the effectiveness of the investigations of shots fired calls and makes a statement that our city is taking proactive steps to reduce gun violence.”

ShotSpotter has been widely used for years by large to medium sized cities such as Miami, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Baltimore and Chicago, however these small city contracts reflect a significant new customer segment for ShotSpotter and include more than 850 potential law enforcement agencies across the country.

Ralph A. Clark, President and CEO of ShotSpotter
Ralph A. Clark, President and CEO of ShotSpotter

“Reducing gun violence is a shared goal for every city – large, small, red, blue – it is something we can all agree on and ShotSpotter’s goal is to be part of the solution,” explains Ralph A. Clark, President and CEO of ShotSpotter.

“Smaller cities are particularly receptive to the benefits of ShotSpotter as they can move quickly to evaluate, adopt and deploy the technology for results that impact their communities exponentially.”

(Hear directly from our nations police chiefs and other law enforcement personnel in Chicago at the IACP conference about ShotSpotter technology. Courtesy of ShotSpotter and YouTube.)

ShotSpotter Takes Platinum AND Gold in 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program

American Security Today’s ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards program is in its Fifth Year and continues to recognize the Outstanding Innovations of top firms and agencies in the Homeland Security and Public Safety fields.

2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the much heralded AST ‘ASTORS’ Awards Winners Presentations and exclusive Luncheon at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC has been canceled and rescheduled for 2021 due to the virus.

Mike Madsen, Publisher, American Security Today
Mike Madsen, Publisher, American Security Today

However, the 2020 ‘ASTORS’  Homeland Security Awards Program was again a huge success and many new categories were added including a section for COVID-19 Detection and Innovation.

ShotSpotter (First of Two)

Best Security Workforce Management Platform

  • ShotSpotter® Connect™ is AI-driven software that helps law enforcement deter crime by pro-actively directing patrol resources to specific locations that have the highest likelihood of crime that day.

  • Connect develops risk assessments for future crimes by collecting and analyzing three sources of data: historical crime data from a police jurisdiction; public data such as weather, transportation points, locations of parks, schools, and liquor establishments; and exclusive ShotSpotter gunfire data.

  • Machine learning determines the areas of highest risk and the forecasts are turned into data-driven patrol plans by shift and beat every day, and disseminated electronically to officers in the field, and carefully meters out recommended time spent on a directed patrol, suggests tactics by crime type, and automatically randomizes patrol locations to minimize the possibility of over or under policing any area.

  • ShotSpotter Connect has been proven to reduce crime by 33%, measured over a period of 90 days in one part of a district where patrol officers use the software and compared to crime levels where officers in a neighboring part of the district do not use the software.

  • ShotSpotter Connect gives command staff unprecedented insight into where their patrol cars have been, the tactics officers are using, and the results they are getting which enables them to better understand which tactics have the highest impact on crime.

Visibility into Patrol Activities
A robust suite of reports provide command staff with insights into where officers were and what they were doing that help optimize patrol strategies and ensure officer accountability.
  • In these times of reduced police forces due to the pandemic, ShotSpotter Connect helps agencies use their existing resources most efficiently, so police patrols can be at the right place at the right time to deter crime before it happens and keep our communities safer.

ShotSpotter (Second of Two)

Best Gunshot Detection Solution

  • Many cities across the country face a gun violence problem and 80% of gunshot incidents are never reported to 911.

  • ShotSpotter’s technology detects, locates and alerts law enforcement agencies to gunfire incidents in real-time.

  • It is used by more than 100 cities across the U.S., including nearly half of which are top 50 metro areas including Cincinnati, New York City, Miami, Denver and Oakland.

ShotSpotter gunshot alerts are delivered real-time to your mobile device so you can respond safely and with confidence. ShotSpotter provides the nearest street address to self-dispatch when the situation warrants; gunshot audio to gain situational awareness, and; precise location of the gunshot to search for evidence.
ShotSpotter gunshot alerts are delivered real-time to your mobile device so you can respond safely and with confidence. ShotSpotter provides the nearest street address to self-dispatch when the situation warrants; gunshot audio to gain situational awareness, and; precise location of the gunshot to search for evidence.
  • In 2019, ShotSpotter detected over 140,000 gunshot incidents across the US with a 97% accuracy rate.

  • ShotSpotter’s real-time alerts notify police precisely when and where gunshot incidents occur, within 60 seconds, with critical data such as number of rounds fired, number of shooters, and type of weapons used.

  • This results in a faster, more accurate response to the scene to better recover evidence, interview witnesses, and attend to gunshot victims—improving overall police effectiveness.

  • By working with ShotSpotter, law enforcement agencies can better connect with their communities and bolster their mission to protect and serve.

  • ShotSpotter was also recognized in the 2019 and 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Programs.

ShotSpotter enables law enforcement officials to more effectively respond to, investigate and deter crime, and are trusted by more than 100 U.S. cities to help make their communities safer.

The platform includes its flagship product, ShotSpotter Respond™, the leading gunshot detection, location and forensic system, and ShotSpotter Connect™, patrol management software to dynamically direct patrol resources to areas of greatest risk and more effectively deter crime.

ShotSpotter’s CrimeCenter™ investigative case management software helps detectives connect the dots and share information more effectively to improve case clearance rates.

To Learn More, please visit shotspotter.com/

The 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is sponsored by ATI SystemsAttivo NetworksAutomatic SystemsDesktop Alert, X.Labs and Reed Expositionsevery one a returning Sponsor from 2019.

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1Gartner, Inc., “Innovation Insight for Extended Detection and Response,” by Peter Firstbrook and Craig Lawson, 19 March 2020 

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