米兰体育

BRICE LOXLEY, 米兰体育 13. WE ASKED POLICE IF SHOTSPOTTER PLAYED A ROLE IN THE INVESTIGATION INTO LAST NIGHT鈥橲 SHOOTING, AND THEY TELL US THERE ARE NO SHOTSPOTTER IN THAT AREA. STILL, CITY LEADERS TOUT THE SYSTEM AS A CRUCIAL CRIME FIGHTING TOOL. BUT SOME OF THE NATION鈥橲 LARGEST CITIES QUESTIONED THE TECHNOLOGY鈥橲 ACCURACY. OR DROPPING THE SERVICE ALTOGETHER. TONIGHT, 米兰体育 13 JON PAEPCKE INVESTIGATES THE VALUE OF BIRMINGHAM鈥橲 GUNFIRE TRACKING INVESTMENT. WHEN A SHOOTER LITTERED FIFTH STREET SOUTH WITH TWO DOZEN SHELL CASINGS LAST WEEK, BIRMINGHAM鈥橲 GUNFIRE DETECTION SYSTEM TRIANGULATED THE EXACT SPOT WITHIN A COUPLE OF FEET. FLORENCE BILLUPS FIRST CAME TO WORK FOR BIRMINGHAM PD IN THE EARLY 1990S. BACK THEN, PINPOINTING GUNFIRE WAS A LITTLE LESS EXACT. IF YOU HEARD IT, YOU HEAR IT. BUT YOU COULDN鈥橳 PINPOINT WHERE IT WAS BECAUSE ITS ECHO AND SO YOU WOULD JUST BE RIDING AROUND. COULD BE HALF A MILE AWAY. IT COULD BE A HALF A MILE AWAY. THAT ALL CHANGED IN 2007, WHEN BIRMINGHAM HIRED A COMPANY CALLED SHOTSPOTTER. ITS SENSORS USE SONAR TECHNOLOGY TO TRACK GUNFIRE IN SELECT NEIGHBORHOODS. 17 YEARS LATER, THE SYSTEM鈥橲 COVERAGE AREA HAS MORE THAN TRIPLED IN THE CITY. HOW IS SHOTSPOTTER MAKING BIRMINGHAM STREETS SAFER? IT ALLOWS YOU TO GET TO THE AREA WHERE THE WHERE THE SITUATION IS TAKING PLACE QUICKER. BUT NOT EVERYBODY IS A BIG FAN. SOME OF THE NATION鈥橲 LARGEST CITIES ARE QUESTIONING THE SYSTEM鈥橲 LAW ENFORCEMENT VALUE. IN JUNE, NEW YORK CITY鈥橲 COMPTROLLER RELEASED AN AUDIT CRITICIZING SHOTSPOTTER. S ACCURACY DURING THE SAMPLED MONTHS OF REVIEW IN 2022 AND 2023. SHOTSPOTTER ALERTS ONLY RESULTED IN CONFIRMED SHOOTINGS. BETWEEN 8% AND 20% OF THE TIME. SHOTSPOTTER PUSHED BACK, TOUTING A 90% ACCURACY RATE AND THAT THE CONTROLLER鈥橲 METHODS OF VERIFYING GUNSHOTS ARE MORE SUITED FOR AN EPISODE OF LAW AND ORDER THAN THEY ARE FOR THE REALITIES OF POLICING. BUT ON TOP OF THE NEW YORK REPORT, MAYORS IN CHICAGO AND HOUSTON PLAN TO DUMP THE SERVICE SHOULD BIRMINGHAM DO THE SAME. NO, NO, IT鈥橲 IT鈥橲 A NECESSARY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT WE NEED BASED ON OUR RESEARCH. SINCE 2007, THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM HAS SPENT MORE THAN $9 MILLION ON SHOTSPOTTER. SENSORS LIKE THIS, INCLUDING NEARLY $1 MILLION A YEAR UNDER THE CURRENT CONTRACT. BUT FATAL GUN VIOLENCE IN THE CITY HAS SKYROCKETED SINCE 2019. BIRMINGHAM POLICE HAVE INVESTIGATED NEARLY 800 MURDERS WITH DEADLY NUMBERS LIKE THAT IS THE HIGH TECH CRIME FIGHTING TOOL REALLY WORTH THE INVESTMENT? I DON鈥橳 THINK THAT SHOTSPOTTER WAS EVER MADE TO SOLVE HOMICIDES. I THINK THAT IT鈥橲 MADE TO ALERT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ABOUT A LOCATION OF EITHER GUNFIRE GOING OFF, OR SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING, LIKE FIREWORKS. IT鈥橲 WELL WORTH THE MONEY. IT鈥橲. WE鈥橵E BEEN ABLE TO CATCH PEOPLE IN THE ACT OF SHOOTING TO TRY AND DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY鈥橲 EFFECTIVENESS. WE DID REQUEST RECORDS OF ANY ARRESTS OR GUN CONFISCATIONS LINKED TO SHOTSPOTTER DISPATCHERS IN BIRMINGHAM. WE WERE TOLD BPD DOES NOT TRACK THAT KIND OF DATA, BUT IT DOES USE THE SYSTEM TO DECIDE WHERE TO PLACE RESOURCES AND TO SOLVE INVESTIGATIONS. BILLUPS INSISTS THE CITY鈥橲 FINEST RELY ON IT TO AVOID WASTING TIME ON GUNFIRE. WILD GOOSE CHASES OFFICERS OUT HERE LOVING IT BECAUSE, LIKE I SAID, IT TAKES A LOT OF GUESSWORK OUT OF TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT WHAT THE SHOTS ARE COMING FROM. WHEN OFFICERS QUICKLY ARRIVED AT THIS FIFTH STREET SOUTH SCENE, THEY DID NOT FIND A VICTIM AND THE SHOOTER WAS ALREADY GONE. IN BIRMINGHAM JO