Tom Chittum Discusses ShotSpotter on Law Enforcement Podcast

On September 22, 2024, the Senior Vice President of Forensic Services at SoundThinking, Tom Chittum, sat down with retired Chief Terence Delehanty, formerly of the Winthrop, MA Police Department, on the Shields and Statutes law enforcement podcast to discuss recent ShotSpotter news in the Boston area.

What is ShotSpotter?

ShotSpotter is SoundThinking’s acoustic gunshot detection system. It works by using a network of acoustic sensors to detect, locate, and alert police to nearly all gunshot incidents. This is especially valuable given the chronic underreporting of gunfire to police. ShotSpotter helps narrow the gap between the amount of gunfire in a community and law enforcement’s ability to respond.

Recently, there was some upheaval surrounding ShotSpotter in Boston when the City Council approached the County Commissioner, requesting a delay in the ShotSpotter contract. However, the Commissioner, a major proponent of ShotSpotter, pushed back, emphasizing its importance in maintaining public safety.

Busting Common Myths About ShotSpotter

On the law enforcement podcast, Chittum discusses how over the years, SoundThinking has had to defend itself from a small but vocal group of critics in select cities who are opposed to the introduction of ShotSpotter in their communities. But often these critics are armed with misinformation and sometimes even disinformation. For example, it is sometimes reported that cities across the country are canceling their ShotSpotter contracts. The truth is that the number of cities that have canceled their contracts is quite small, especially compared to the 170 cities that depend on ShotSpotter to keep their communities safe. In fact, more cities have expanded their contracts in the last year alone than the number of cities that have canceled their contracts over the entire history of the company. This suggests the vast majority of the country supports ShotSpotter and understands its positive impact on public safety.

Similarly, the value of the ShotSpotter technology is often misunderstood. Critics tend to focus on its use as a tool to increase arrests, and while ShotSpotter can identify when and where gunfire occurred – helping investigators identify perpetrators — this is not its primary purpose. On the Shields & Statutes law enforcement podcast, Chittum discusses how the better measure of success for ShotSpotter is the number of victims who are treated for gunshot wounds faster than they would have without the technology. On average, ShotSpotter helps police arrive on the scene several minutes faster, and with greater precision than when relying solely on a 9-1-1 call – if a call is made at all. When dealing with gunshot wounds, those minutes can be the difference between life and death.

What About ShotSpotter’s False Positive Rate?

Much of the discussion of ShotSpotter’s false positive rate is based on incorrect assumptions, as Chittum discusses on the law enforcement podcast. For example, the Massachusetts ACLU gave the example that if someone were to shoot at a piñata, ShotSpotter would go off. The Boston police have debunked this claim, but the conversation about false positives lingers.

While not every ShotSpotter alert results in the recovery of physical evidence of gunfire, this does not mean that all of those alerts are “false positives,” where no gunfire occurred. Assuming otherwise is inaccurate and dangerous. There are many reasons an alert might not result in physical evidence. For example, 10% of the guns the Boston police recover off the streets are revolvers, which do not leave shell casings behind. People tend to flee the scene after a gunshot, and sometimes guns are shot into the air without hitting anything. These situations may lead to an alert with no physical evidence, but they do not constitute “false positives.” It is also important to compare the rate of physical evidence retrieval after a ShotSpotter alert to that of a 9-1-1 call. ShotSpotter leads to evidence recovery much more often, making the focus on “false positives” misleading.

Discussion Around Where ShotSpotter is Deployed

One criticism of ShotSpotter is that police officers intentionally put ShotSpotter technology in minority neighborhoods, leading to over-policing of those areas. But the truth is that when determining where to place acoustic sensors, police do not consider the area’s demographics. They look at calls for service and where gunshots are most frequently reported. In a perfect world, ShotSpotter would be deployed everywhere. But when that’s not feasible, it must be deployed in places with the highest levels of gun violence – where it can do the greatest good.

The Boston Herald and the Boston Globe both published stories suggesting that ShotSpotter leads to over-policing in certain neighborhoods, prompting several members of Congress to sign a letter calling for an investigation into the technology’s use. However, many of these politicians failed to understand the technology before issuing statements and ended up repeating the same misleading information as others, but on a larger platform. This misinformation risked turning public opinion against potentially lifesaving technologies, causing irreparable harm to the very communities they aimed to protect.

It is important to remember that even though ShotSpotter has vocal critics, they are actually quite small in number. The vast majority of the communities SoundThinking works with understand the value of ShotSpotter and believe in its mission. For example, when people say that “Chicago” doesn’t want ShotSpotter, the reality is that only the mayor and a handful of activists are opposed. Overwhelmingly, elected officials in Chicago want ShotSpotter, as does the superintendent of police. Across the country, law enforcement and government officials know that ShotSpotter is reliable and protects the communities that it is meant to serve.

The Best-Case Scenario

ShotSpotter has broad support around the Boston area, with multiple sources of funding that show collaborative, cooperative governments, a police chief with a clear vision for the technology, and a supportive mayor. This creates the ideal ecosystem to deploy ShotSpotter and to see an increase in community safety.

There is no single tool that reduces violent crime. But a system that includes ShotSpotter, ballistic imaging, and strong community support creates a toolbox that collectively helps make a dent in the complex scourge that is gun violence.

Is ShotSpotter Deployed in Schools?

ShotSpotter is an outdoor gun detection technology, so it is not deployed in indoor settings such as high schools or college classrooms. Although most deployments are in places where gunfire is more frequent and underreported, it is also deployed in settings where gunfire is rare but of high consequence when it happens, such as in an active shooter situation on a college campus.

ShotSpotter Data Now and in the Future

Many people think of ShotSpotter as simply a “pointer system”, directing police officers towards the location of the gun violence. But in reality, ShotSpotter data can be used for other valuable purposes, such as evidence in court cases. The alert is often the first in a series of events that leads police to make an arrest. The courts consistently say that a ShotSpotter alert is an appropriate and unique factor that can be used in establishing reasonable suspicion to justify investigative detention or a pat down for weapons. With that said, it’s important to note that there is no formula for establishing reasonable suspicion, as it requires the assessment of the totality of circumstances. Shotspotter is one element in that calculus. ShotSpotter data has also been used to narrow down relevant periods in surveillance footage from areas where gunshots were detected, leading to further evidence used in court cases.

ShotSpotter data can also be valuable to groups not directly related to law enforcement. Gunshot data can be used to steer community resources, such as social workers and mental healthcare providers, to areas experiencing high levels of gunfire. This is particularly critical for children suffering from trauma due to chronic exposure to gun violence. ShotSpotter is a proven public good that enjoys tremendous community support – and its powerful technology has the potential to make all our communities safer.

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