Report: ShotSpotter wastes officers time, provides little help in court, targets overpoliced communities — syracuse.com

Last week’s D3 meeting (Image: CHS)

Tuesday brings the final day of public comment on a roster of “Technology Assisted Crime Prevention Pilot Technologies” being pushed toward deployment in Seattle by Mayor Bruce Harrell and proponents of boosting the city’s struggling police department with better surveillance and intelligence systems.

The proposal would create a plan “a new public safety program that will combine a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) System with an Acoustic Gunshot Location System (AGLS) integrated with Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) software together in one view,” the administration says. Last year, the Seattle City Council approved Harrell’s request for $1.5 million in the 2024 budget to test acoustic gunshot detection systems like ShotSpotter.

Supporters say the new surveillance system would help boost the department’s ability to quickly respond to gun violence and knock down the city’s record pace of homicides. But examples of real world deployments show the tech doesn’t necessarily work as advertised and can actually hinder police response.

With a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday night and online feedback also being gathered for the meeting, District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth heard more from constituents at the latest in her office’s monthly public safety meetings held last week.

In the meeting held at North Capitol Hill’s Seattle Prep, there was a stark divide on the hopes around ShotSpotter.

“ShotSpotter is one of the technologies that they want to implement that’s going to be surveilling the city and listening to if there are gunshots,” a resident who attended the D3 public safety meeting said during the session’s questions and answers. “I’m wondering if you all are getting in the weeds with that research.”

The woman told the crowd that Chicago police officers were responding to a ShotSpotter alert when they fatally shot Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old boy, in 2021

Victoria Beach, a former chair of SPD’s African American Community Advisory Council, shook her head and spoke in favor of the program.

“First off, I’m so tired of people who don’t look like us speaking for us. You don’t speak for the Black community because we are the ones being shot and killed,” Beach said. “If anyone here has a better solution on saving our Black children, say it now.”

Beach said she hopes to bring ShotSpotter leaders back to the city for discussions, as was done in a 2022 African American Community Advisory Council meeting.

City officials were also in attendance at the Tuesday night meeting.

DeVitta Briscoe, gun violence prevention liaison at the mayor’s office, said much of the research cited by opponents of the plan were studies done only on ShotSpotter, one brand of “Acoustic Gunshot Location Systems.” Briscoe said AGLS is a gunshot detection tool that increases response times for police and fire departments to get to the scene of the crime faster to save lives.

“The other thing is to gather evidence. It is an evidence gathering tool, and the other thing is to detect gunshots and to send officers to the exact location where that is,” Briscoe said.

While ShotSpotter has been the center of debate in Seattle, supporters have backed off the focus after Chicago announced it is dropping its contract after spending $49 million on the service. “”Chicago spends $9 million a year on ShotSpotter despite clear evidence it is unreliable and overly susceptible to human error,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson who campaigned in part on ending the deal.

ShotSpotter, by the way, has also shifted its focus and now goes by the brand SoundThinking.

The current alternative is old school.

SPD relies on calls to locate gunshots and Briscoe said 60 to 80% of individuals reporting shots fired were inaccurate reports.

“If you are a person who has personally experienced this, you want the officers to get there as soon as they can to administer life saving practices,” said Briscoe, who lost her son and brother to gun violence. “Solving crimes is much higher for white victims than for Black victims.”

“You cannot solve gun violence on hunches and social theories—it just doesn’t happen,” Briscoe said.

Hollingsworth said she hopes to identify communities that have been historically excluded from gunshot technology conversations to give them a voice and put them at the forefront of discussions of what they wish to see when it comes to public safety initiatives.

“I think it’s really important that we are identifying those groups,” Hollingsworth said.

An East Precinct lieutenant addressed questions about a recent shooting and agreed that gun violence has increased. He said tying the increase in gunfire to an increase in gang-related violence is something SPD is still trying to figure out.

“All of our shots are happening in about 10 to 12 blocks,” said the lieutenant.

If you hear gunfire, call 911, representatives at the meeting recommended to attendees. They also pleaded with the audience to be patient with officers, since two can only handle about one call per hour. Officers currently attempt to triangulate the location of the reported gunfire through callers, and more calls can make it more helpful for police.

While the surveillance technology debate plays out, Hollingsworth said the technology is only a small part of the public safety puzzle.

“We have a lot of our first responders, but public safety doesn’t just end and start with our police, our fire, our EMTs. It also goes along with our court system and our city attorney’s office as well,” Hollingsworth said.

Conversations between the court system, the city attorney’s office and the city were not happening previously, but the groups are now collaborating, according to Hollingsworth.

Last week’s meeting also included discussion about the other side of the equation in what public safety advocates have said will be necessary to make the city safer — more cops.

Representatives said last Tuesday that East Precinct staffing is lower than other precincts but claimed every station is operating at a bare minimum.

“Our minimum staffing for a weekday is 12 officers,” one officer said.

Another officer said that quality of applicants is a concern when it comes to recruiting new officers. He said that 200 people are attending recruiting events per month.

“Rough numbers from last month’s meeting I pulled, we have 1,554 candidates with 198 new contacts in the month of December,” officer Dorian Korieo said, adding that they are trying to be as competitive as possible and hope the new SPD contracts will bring the best recruits into the city.

Hollingsworth said more D3 public safety meetings will come with the next one in Leschi and the following meeting in Capitol Hill. Hollingsworth said her office will post regular updates for monthly meetings with plans to rotate around different locations to create as much contact and connection with communities and organizations as possible. Hollingsworth also encouraged residents to subscribe to her newsletter for ongoing public safety and public meeting updates.

As for the Technology Assisted Crime Prevention Pilot, the Harrell administration says it will cost the city about $70,000 per year per square mile to maintain. Any initial rollout will be limited in geographic scope to cap costs and evaluate the system.

The city’s hearing for public comment on the Technology Assisted Crime Prevention Pilot will take place Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 PM at the Bitter Lake Community Center. Public comment can be submitted here.

UPDATE: The feedback period has been extended through March 22nd.

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