Shots Heard in Cities Around the Country Are Pinpointed in One Soundproof Calif. Office
A high-tech system of pinpointing the location from which gunshots have been fired and alerting police within a few minutes is now being used by nearly 70 cities.
But it takes only one soundproof office in Silicon Valley to dispatch police in cities from New York to Milwaukee to nearby Oakland, Calif., according to the New York Times (reg. req.).
The ShotSpotter Inc. system works by using acoustic sensors on buildings, utility poles and similar settings to triangulate the direction from which the sound of gunfire emanates, the article explains.
Even when nearby individuals call police about hearing shots, it can be very difficult to figure out what is happening in the absence of eyewitnesses. And sometimes no one notifies police.
At one point in 2010, a ShotSpotter recording alerted police in Richmond, Calif., to a gun battle involving 100 rounds shot from four firearms, Chief Chris Magnus told the newspaper. “It was just mind-boggling. This is like 11 at night on a summer night, and nobody even called it in.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “The Big Ear of the Law: High-Tech Microphones Help Locate Gunshots”
