Study: ShotSpotter increases police response times

The use of gunfire detection system ShotSpotter by Houston police made little impact on gun violence in the area it covered and distracted police from other calls to help. Out of approximately 6,300 alerts between December 2020 and March 2023, more than 80 percent were canceled, marked as unfounded, dismissed as information calls, or closed because officers could not find evidence upon arrival, according an investigation by t he Houston Chronicle. Furthermore, the report revealed that the use of the system distracted officers from other calls for help as every ShotSpotter alert was treated as a top-priority report that warranted an immediate response - an approach that sparked concerns over inefficiency and risks of over-policing. The less than 20 percent likelihood of a ShotSpotter alert resulting in an incident report was about half the rate of traditional 911 calls, Douglas Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, told the Chronicle . System 🤖 ShotSpotter Documents 📃 SoundThinking (2023). The Houston Chronicle is Wrong About ShotSpotter Operator: Developer: Soun dThinking/ShotSpotter Country: USA Sector: Govt - police Purpose: Detect gunfire Technology: Deep learning; Neural network; Machine learning Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Capacity/resources; Effectiveness/value Investigations, assessments, audits 🧐 Houston Chronicle (2023). Houston's gunshot alert system isn't curbing violence but delays police response times, data shows

Date it happened

2020-12-01

Organisation involved

Houston Police Department

Product, system or model

ShotSpotter

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.