New shot detecting device for cops - ‘ShotSpotter’ could lead cops to where the guns are being fired
Published:Saturday | June 11, 2016 | 11:05 AMRyon Jones
Four years after then Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington announced that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) was looking to acquire the 'ShotSpotter' technology to assist with investigating gun-related incidents, The Sunday Gleaner has confirmed that plans are far advanced to make it a reality.
The Ministry of National Security has reportedly given its blessings to the plan and sources say efforts to acquire the software and its attendant hardware are far advanced.
ShotSpotter technology utilises audio and visual sensors to detect and convey the location of gunfire to a digital map, indicating the addresses and time of the incidents.
Last week, Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told our news team that while he has not yet been made aware of the planned introduction of the technology locally, it is something that the force has been yearning for and would welcome.
ASSIST IN CRIME FIGHT
"For a number of years, the JCF had recommended it as a useful piece of equipment that would help us in our fight against gun crime," Hinds told The Sunday Gleaner.
"We would certainly welcome it. We would be very, very happy to get the deployment of such technology."
The first 156 days of this year saw 492 murders across the island, with just a little over 77 per cent (381) occurring through the use of guns. Hinds believes if the new technology is made available to the police, it would result in a reduction in the number of shooting incidents.
"We are convinced that it can assist us, especially in densely populated areas where guns are used prevalently," said Hinds.
"We believe that there is value to it, because it would help us to certainly identify where there is gunfire and, hopefully, the response will allow us to actually intercept persons who are committing such crimes.
"There is also the deterrent effect; the fact that persons would know that it exists and may, or may not know where it exists; it would prevent persons from using guns."
Hinds further revealed that the JCF had gone as far as to hold discussions with the developers back in 2012, exploring possible areas across the island where it could be installed.
"From that time, it was something that we wanted and our position would not have changed. So it would be something that we would support," said Hinds.
USED WORLDWIDE
The ShotSpotter technology, which was developed by United States-based company Systems & Services Technologies, Inc, was launched in California in 1996.
It is currently used in more than 90 cities worldwide, including dozens of police departments across the United States, with cost averaging US$250,000 (J$31,275,000) per square mile of coverage.
The city of Camden, in New Jersey, deployed the ShotSpotter system in 2012 and credited it for a 50 per cent reduction in shootings in 2014.