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CEO of company overseeing ShotSpotter sits down with ABC7 as clock ticks down on Chicago contract

ByMegan Hawkins and Maggie Green and Liz Nagy

Monday, September 9, 2024

CEO sits down with ABC7 as clock ticks down on ShotSpotter contract

What is a ShotSpotter? Debate about the Chicago shootings detection technology will come before the city council's public safety committee Monday.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It is designed to trigger a near-instantaneous warning to police without a 911 call.

ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection technology, has monitored Chicago neighborhoods for more than six years at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.

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But is it working? Is it making the streets safer?

It is a high-stakes debate that will come before the Chicago City Council's public safety committee on Monday morning.

ABC7 sat down with the CEO of the company that oversees ShotSpotter as the clock ticks down on Chicago's short-term contract extension that is set to expire two weeks from Sunday night.

"I canceled ShotSpotter. It's canceled!" Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

That was the shot across the bow, a doubling-down in May on a campaign commitment by Johnson to do away with the city's gunshot detection system known as ShotSpotter.

Keeping that campaign promise, the mayor abruptly ended the six-year, multimillion dollar contract in February.

The unilateral move triggered a months-long political power struggle in city council chambers, through the ranks of the police department and deep into Chicago's most violent neighborhoods.

"I'm for technology that's going to help us get to a location quicker and help us save lives," said Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling.

Under pressure from city council members, Johnson agreed to a six-month, $8.6 million extension to keep the technology in place through the city's historically violent summer months and the Democratic National Convention.

That extension cost more than the city paid for ShotSpotter for all of 2023.

At ShotSpotter's Northern California headquarters, ABC7 sat down for an exclusive interview with Ralph Clark, CEO of SoundThinking, the company that runs ShotSpotter.

"It's critically important that folks understand that 80% to 90% of criminal gunfire doesn't generate a 911 call," Clark said.

This was days after the violent July Fourth weekend.

"When you look at 109 people shot in one weekend, nearly 500 ShotSpotter alerts, is ShotSpotter really being an effective tool in cutting down on gun violence if it's that rampant?" asked ABC7 Reporter Liz Nagy.

"The purpose and design of ShotSpotter is to aid and facilitate the fast and precise response of first responders and police to the scene of gunshot wound victims," Clark said.

Following a torrent of historically violent years, Chicago contracted with ShotSpotter in 2018, signing a three-year $33 million deal.

The audio gunshot detection system is meant to instantly alert police to gunfire without a person having to dial 911.

In March 2021, Chicago police responded to an alley in Little Village, alerted by ShotSpotter.

There, a teenage boy with a gun ran from police, dropping the weapon a split second before he turned toward the officer. The officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

The shooting led to Johnson's future campaign promise to do away with ShotSpotter.

Inside ShotSpotter's incident review center in California, the sound of gunfire is constant.

A team of analysts rely on a network of acoustic sensors attached to city streetlights and buildings on both public and private properties.

"A gunshot can only fly in one direction, so we're looking for a directional sensor pattern," one employee said.

Thousands of sensors hang over 100 square miles of Chicago neighborhoods, largely monitoring the streets of the South and West sides.

"A disproportionate number of your transmitters are placed in low-income, Black and Brown, non-white, very poor communities. You don't decide that?" Nagy asked.

"We're placed where 85% of gun violence victimization takes place. That happens to also be at-risk, underserved communities that are often of color," Clark responded.

Days before Johnson abruptly canceled the city's contract in February, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office released its report on ShotSpotter, finding the technology ineffective and failing to make an impact on arresting shooters.

The ABC7 I-Team has been reporting on the efficacy of ShotSpotter for years.

Our most recent analysis of Chicago Police Department data from January 2018 through March 2024 shows the average response time of officers to the scene of a gun crime, alerted by ShotSpotter, is eight minutes and six seconds.

With just a 911 call, and no ShotSpotter alert, data shows the response time grows to 10 minutes and 48 seconds.

"Time literally is tissue. So, getting to these scenes even 60 seconds, 90 seconds, two minutes before a traditional 911 call - that you may or may not get - can make the difference between a life being saved or not being saved," Clark said.

New city data shows nearly 145,000 ShotSpotter alerts between January 2021 and July 2024. Just 7.1% found a shooting victim on the other end of that alert.

Some city council members cite that data as reason enough to get rid of ShotSpotter.

"About 83% to 88% of ShotSpotter alerts turn up nothing. And if I had an oven that didn't work 88% of the time when I turned it on, I'd be looking for a new oven," said 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata.

The contract is set to expire Sept. 22. By then, Chicago taxpayers will have spent a total of $53 million on ShotSpotter.

In May, the city council voted 34 to 14 in favor of keeping ShotSpotter. Johnson continues to say he is not budging.

"I think we have to work with the mayor to find a reasonable solution that we can all - we may not be 100% agreeable on - but again, that most of us can find some solution and help the police department do their job," said 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin.

"Unless you've got another tool that says hey give us something else. And the person in charge of keeping them safe is who? The superintendent of police! He says he needs ShotSpotter as a tool, that he wants it. But yet, somebody who is not an expert in safety says, 'Get rid of it,'" said 17th Ward Ald. David Moore.

City council members told ABC7 ShotSpotter or not, that money must be spent within Chicago's $2 billion annual police budget.

Now, as the clock ticks down on the city's remaining days of its contract, SoundThinking is preparing to dismantle its sensors Sept. 23. They will have 60 days to remove the technology entirely.

Chicago's contract with SoundThinking has a built-in 60-day transition period.

The mayor's office told ABC7 in a statement, again, "During that two-month period, law enforcement and other community safety stakeholders will continue to assess tools and programs that effectively increase both safety and trust, and issue recommendations to that effect."

But many city council members are determined to find a way to keep ShotSpotter in place.

On Monday morning, representatives from SoundThinking and Chicago's Emergency Management Center will present the latest data, collected since March, on ShotSpotter's efficacy.

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