Chicago police encourage proactive 911 calls after ShotSpotter contract ends

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police kicked off a new campaign to encourage residents to be more proactive in calling 911 now that the city no longer has ShotSpotter.

In the 6th Police District on the city's South Side, a community policing push is underway to raise awareness about the need for people to call 911 when they hear gunfire.

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"We've been, have been canvassing the last week and a half now, passing out those flyers, the boards that you can hang in your window that said we call the police. So that's, that's one of our biggest things, we've been handing those out at our beat meetings," said Cmdr. Michael Tate.

Police hoping to give out 100,000 "we call police" signs across the city as part of a campaign to make up for the loss of ShotSpotter, which was deactivated last weekend.

They will also be using social media as part of the campaign.

CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling said the department has to be fluid now that they don't have ShotSpotter at their disposal.

"We're going to continue to be proactive to try to keep those shootings down. So, it's like anything else. If we have to change, we have to adapt. If something is removed or something is brought in new, we have to adapt," he said.

Without ShotSpotter, police are also going to be relying more on information gathered by district intelligence officers to try to prevent conflicts that can lead to shootings.

"We create strategies around that information. So we'll just continue to work in that fashion, and anything that we can improve upon. We're going to continue to move in that direction," he said.

Church and community groups are also doing their part.

"We're talking about it more. We're encouraging people more. We're getting ready to actually put together a flyer to send out through all of our social media. ShotSpotter is gone. You're still there. Make a call," said Father Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina Church.