Shotspotter
Overview
ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection product sold by the company SoundThinking.
When a contract is signed, the company will blanket Black, brown, and poor communities with microphones. These microphones are always on and always listening. When three microphones detect a sound over 120 decibels, the sound is “reviewed” by the company’s machine-learning algorithm (which has never been independently tested). If the algorithm deems a sound to be a gunshot or is not sure, the sound is sent to a person for review at one of the company’s review centers. The person reviewing then makes a determination regarding the sound and will either dismiss it or will alert the dispatch system in the city where the sound was recorded of a potential gunshot.
ShotSpotter has been disproven as an effective technology towards addressing gun violence, saving lives, improving police response times to gunshots, or any of the other claims that the company makes.
As ShotSpotter has received more scrutiny with the rise of a coordinated national coalition, StopShotSpotter.com, and more research detailing the tool’s lack of efficacy, a number of cities have canceled or declined to sign contracts. This includes Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Dayton, Buffalo, Durham, Houston, Winston-Salem, Mobile, Toledo, San Diego, San Antonio, and Charlotte. Sustained organizing made this possible.
Additional research on ShotSpotter:
Map
The data and map below document where SoundThinking has or had contracts for ShotSpotter with police agencies in the South. This information will be updated regularly.
This is mostly collected via open source research and will be updated over time. Please contact us at sassisouth@proton.me if you would like to contribute to this.
Agency State
Birmingham Police Department AL
Montgomery Police Department AL
University of Alabama AL
Forrest City Police Department AR
Hot Springs Police Department AR
Little Rock Police Department AR
Fort Lauderdale Police Department FL
Fort Myers Police Department FL
Hallandale Police Department FL
Homestead Police Department FL
Jacksonville Sheriff FL
Miami Police Department FL
Miami Gardens Police Department FL
Miramar Police Department FL
Opa-Locka Police Department FL
Palm Beach Sheriff FL
Pompano Beach Police Department FL
Riviera Beach Police Department FL
Tampa Police Department FL
West Palm Beach Police Department FL
Atlanta Police Department GA
Bibb County Police Department GA
Savannah College of Art and Design GA
Savannah Police Department GA
University of West Georgia GA
Louisville Police Department KY
Baton Rouge Police Department LA
Monroe Police Department LA
Jackson Police Department MS
Durham Police Department NC
Fayetteville Police Department NC
Goldsboro Police Department NC
Greenville Police Department NC
Rocky Mount Police Department NC
Wilmington Police Department NC
Winston-Salem Police Department NC
Columbia Police Department SC
Richland County Sheriff SC
Jackson Police Department TN
Memphis Police Department TN
Harris County Sheriff TX
Houston Police Department TX
Norfolk News Police Department VA
Virginia Beach Police Department VA
Virginia Commonwealth University VA