Portland drops gunshot detection tech

[msgriff]

A month or two ago. a cop in Chicago was shot and killed by carjackers just as she got home from her shift. Apparently, none of her neighbors called 911 or gave her first aid. Chicago's gunshot detection system picked up what was significant gun battle, and the police put it on their list of something to check out. Around 40 minutes later, a cop drove by and found the dead woman. Later, when asked why it took so long, the police spokesman said that it wouldn't have mattered if they had got there sooner, as the cop would have been dead anyway.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Thread has me pondering just how many decibels a shot has to be in order for the gizmo to hear it.

I know this morning as I got out of bed the dog took off running so his hearing is excellent.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

A month or two ago. a cop in Chicago was shot and killed by carjackers just as she got home from her shift. Apparently, none of her neighbors called 911 or gave her first aid. Chicago's gunshot detection system picked up what was significant gun battle, and the police put it on their list of something to check out. Around 40 minutes later, a cop drove by and found the dead woman. Later, when asked why it took so long, the police spokesman said that it wouldn't have mattered if they had got there sooner, as the cop would have been dead anyway.

Agree. In Portland it can take 1.5 hours for police to respond to an active shooter when they already know the precise location. See the nextdoor posts for other examples of break ins etc where they doesn't even respond at all. Having a detection system will accomplish nothing than waste more taxpayer $. We had a crazy guy in elementary school threatening people (not with gun). Police precinct is about 2-3 minutes away. It took them 45 minutes to get there.

 

[dangerranger60]

Just bad policy IMO. Ineffective and gimmicky. Plus, if you want to draw police to a certain area so you can commit crimes elsewhere, just shoot or drop firecrackers in Area 'A' while your posse robs a bank/etc. in Area 'B'.

Actually, the problem for Portland wasn't that the system did not work, it was that after a shot was detected they had no officers to send in. And the neighborhoods they tested it in complained that it was racist to deploy it there only.
Of course, if they had put it in a nicer Neiborhood they still would have been racists for not protecting the bubblegun hole neighborhood!
I have seen the system work. It can tell the difference between firecrackers, a car backfire, and a gunshot. But to do any good the city then needs to be able to flood the area with officers quickly.

 

[The Heretic]

But to do any good the city then needs to be able to flood the area with officers quickly.

As I said, bad policy

 

[dangerranger60]

Fresno CA had a spree killer that was tracked by shot spotter to the block he was on. What he did not know was there was an event in the area that was attended by every uniformed cop in the county.
The shooter shot 5 people in a 8 block area in about 5 min time. ShotSpotter kept them aware of exactly where he was. Dispatch was able to keep up with his movements and put a hundred officers right there and put handcuffs on him less than 10 min from the first shot.

But without the mass response of cops it would only have been able to tell where he had been! DR