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Is ShotSpotter Necessary In Small Cities With Few Shootings?

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In June 2023, the town council in Phillipsburg, N.J., voted unanimously to install the gunshot detection service ShotSpotter. The town would get the system up and running in a few square miles of the city, using $297,000 in federal COVID relief funding, the Trace reports. “Crime is an issue, but it’s not unique to Phillipsburg,” Councilmember Keith Kennedy said. "It’s in every town and city around us.” ShotSpotter, which alerts police to shootings through acoustic sensors positioned on lampposts and streetlights, “will be a step toward dealing with crime,” he said.  There’s one thing Kennedy and other city leaders didn’t mention: While gun violence may be an issue, it has rarely touched Phillipsburg. The town of 15,000 people on the Pennsylvania border has had a total of five shootings in the past decade in which someone was injured or killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that New Jersey had the second-lowest rate of gun deaths In the U.S. last year.  In a new analysis by The Trace, 62 cities that have installed ShotSpotter averaged fewer than one shooting per month in which someone was injured or killed over the past 10 years, according to Gun Violence Archive data. Of those 62 cities, 43 of them — including Phillipsburg — were in states with an “A” grade by the gun violence prevention group Giffords for strong gun restrictions. 


Does Phillipsburg even need ShotSpotter? For cities with scant gun violence, strong gun laws, and small budgets, critics say the money would be better spent elsewhere. “To be perfectly frank, when I hear of some towns purchasing ShotSpotter, I’m confused,” said Eric Piza, a criminology professor at Northeastern University who has studied the technology. “ShotSpotter is a tool to more effectively respond to gun violence. A requirement of that tool meeting its goals would be some level of a gun violence problem.” A spokesperson for SoundThinking, the company behind ShotSpotter, said the need for timely and accurate gunfire detection is critical even in low-violence cities. “Irrespective of where ShotSpotter is deployed, the technology ensures readiness, supports law enforcement in responding quickly and effectively, and reinforces public safety,” the spokesperson said. “Cities that adopt ShotSpotter are addressing this challenge proactively, ensuring they have the tools to address gun violence and providing residents with peace of mind.” ShotSpotter is found in more than 170 cities, communities, counties, and university campuses, according to SoundThinking. Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that the expansion into small cities and towns has caused ShotSpotter’s coverage area to more than double over the past eight years. SoundThinking’s revenue has quadrupled from $24 million in 2017 to $93 million in 2023.

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