ShotSpotter Gunfire Alert System

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http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/22/sniper-detectors-coming-to-americas-heartland/

ShotSpotter relies on wide-area acoustic surveillance and GPS technology to triangulate the source of gunshots. Sensors are fixed to buildings and poles to provide coverage over a fixed area. With audio-analysis software, it can identify whether a shooter is stationary or moving -- meaning police officers can be equipped with information on the speed and direction of, say, a vehicle from which a shot was fired.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011...s-coming-to-americas-heartland/#ixzz1hIXnbu9e
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Pretty interesting but I really wonder how effective it really is.
How does it handle suppressor equipped firearms?
What about shots fired inside a vehicle or structure
echo's from allyways etc.
what about fireworks? the nearby sensors may be able to detect the difference, but others, after the sound has rebounded a few times may record a false positive on gunfire.
 
I can just see the near future. Walking down the street chewing gum, blow a bubble and it pops, police show up thinking you fired a gun because their system (to protect you of course) went off. 20 minute interrogation ensues..
 
We have the same crap in most of the big dump cities in MA. Stringent gun laws and shot spotter system and yet still they have a problem with 'gun violence'. More knee jerk reactions to problems with people aimed at inanimate objects. I think the whole thing is a bunch of crap and the $ would be better spent on training and arming the good citizens....errr subjects of our state.
 
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We've had it here for awhile.





It works well to show up to a scene where a guy fired a gun a short while ago but now he's gone. Or arriving and finding a body with no one around.

.
 
We have it here in new haven and I've wondered about its effectiveness. I've looked for articles and it all seems very hush hush. I've talked to cops about it. Their responses range from indifferent to scathing. This is from rank and file to upper brass.

I'd be really interested to read some objective reports on shotspotter's effectiveness.
 
Sounds like a prime opportunity for monkeywrenchers to wreck the signal/noise ratio.
 
They're trying to bring it to Detroit too. And the fact that Detroit is flat broke doesn't seem to be stopping them.
 
Just thought of this,

target practice for the 'bangers once they see the sensors
and more taxpayers $$ down the drain.

I see traffic cameras that get banged up and spraypainted over from time to time
 
Here in Michigan I know they have this installed in Flint. I don't live in the area and I am not LEO but I have heard it doesn't do much good.

The idea to install it in Detroit just got shot down a few weeks ago. Pun intended.

ETA: TwoWheelsGod, you got to it before me. At least I thought they scrapped the idea.
 
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Columbia SC implemented a similar system a few years ago. I spoke with some of the people in the IT department who did it and from what they've said it was actually pretty accurate. It was fine tuned enough that holidays didn't pose any problem as it could differentiate between fireworks and gunfire.
 
Pyzik said:
Here in Michigan I know they have this installed in Flint. I don't live in the area and I am not LEO but I have heard it doesn't do much good.
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It's coming to Flint next year I believe. It's currently in Saginaw.
 
Shot spotter

Author: EDITORIAL The York Dispatch
Date: July 30, 2010
Publication: York Dispatch, The (PA)

If York City's ShotSpotter worked as intended, the $600,000 gunfire detector system might be a powerful law enforcement tool, as well as a deterrent to violent criminals.

But it doesn't.

The finicky network of 40 sensors and eight cameras activated hundreds of times last year because of construction work, car backfires and even firecrackers -- but completely missed seven of that year's nine gunfire homicides.

Lots of data and articles from the York PA area that show the spotter is not worth the money. I could not link the article because I am not registered with YDR.com
 
They have it up and running in Troy,NY, but I have not heard how successfully. The demo for the system was special though. They fired an M1, at least it looked like one on TV, into a city truck full of sand, and surprise, the system picked it up! For the taxes we pay in NY, I hope it works.
 
...and if some kid sets off the system near your house, I'm pretty sure a lot of bureaucrats and their pet thugs will find that 'reasonable suspicion' and enough to search your house. Considering that we all probably commit felonies every day without even knowing it (even lawyers don't have the Federal code memorized in its entirety), there's no telling what sort of shenanigans could ensue... selective enforcement has a long, sleazy history with those types.
 
Pyzik said:
Here in Michigan I know they have this installed in Flint. I don't live in the area and I am not LEO but I have heard it doesn't do much good.

The idea to install it in Detroit just got shot down a few weeks ago. Pun intended.

ETA: TwoWheelsGod, you got to it before me. At least I thought they scrapped the idea.
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What good will installing it do? You already can't get a police response calling 911. The only ones interested in installing it are the ones that will benifit directly. Follow the money. It's not about fighting crime.
 
Politics, cost, and other newsquips aside, I can tell you that the system works. It works, and it works WELL.
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You seem to be pretty familiar with it. Can you enlighten us as to what it can actually do? How well does it actually learn?

For one thing, the article implies that it can determine the speed and direction that one solitary shot is fired from. I would think that it would need more than one to have any hope of doing that.
 
It was installed in some of the high crime/gang areas in Los Angeles a good 15+ years ago. There were a few news reports in the following months, but never heard anything after that. No idea how well in actually worked.
 
duck911 said:
Politics, cost, and other newsquips aside, I can tell you that the system works. It works, and it works WELL.

--Duck911
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But the system can only be as effective as the people running (using) it. It could be used to fight crime, or it could be used just to collect "statistics".
 
From what I heard quite awhile back is they can pinpoint where a shot came from to a 100 foot radius. Its probably even better then that with newer technology. I remember as a kid, screwing with the cops in our town with a gross of bird bombs and a few packs of cigarettes. Had em going around in circles while we were sitting in taco bell eating burrito supremes.
 
They are here in Baton Rouge and work fairly well. BRPD and Sheriff's Office respond to multiple Shotspotter reports each night. Some are false alarms such as a resturant employee letting a dumpster lid slam behind a business but many are true reports. The problem, as someone else already posted, is that often officers will arrive to find nothing in the area.
 
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