By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
April 18, 2012

State Rep. John Rizzo is hoping to secure funding to help Kansas City and St. Louis purchase ShotSpotter technology.

Funding to provide each city with $150,000 to go toward the technology purchase has already passed out of the House and is now being discussed in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Our two biggest cities have homicide rates over 100 and are battling gun violence constantly it seems like,” Rizzo said.

ShotSpotter technology could help combat the gun violence, he explained.

Using a series of acoustic sensors and computer software, ShotSpotter activates when gunshots are fired. Within seconds of gunfire, ShotSpotter can pinpoint the location of the gunshots and shooter’s position. The technology can also detect the number of shots fired, the shooter’s speed and direction of travel, and the time the gunfire occurred.

When shots are fired, data is sent to the ShotSpotter Operations Center where trained professionals analyze the data and send the details to the local police department’s dispatch center. ShotSpotter experts may also be able to determine whether there’s multiple shooters and the possible caliber of gun used.

ShotSpotter sensors can detect gunfire from as far away as 1,000 to 2,000 meters.

“Just the ability to detect the shots with pinpoint accuracy is such an advantage to police officers and the police department,” Rizzo said. “So many times in my neck of the woods throughout Northeast, you hear gunshots, but in order to identify where it is (coming from) it’s pretty difficult.”

Kansas City Police Department Chief Darryl Forté is on board with the technology.

“I had a meeting with the new chief of police (Forté) shortly after he took the position,” Rizzo said. “I asked him what he thought would be most effective in combatting the crimes and violence we’ve been having in the urban core and he brought up ShotSpotter and said this was a new tool out there that other cities have used very successfully.”

KCPD Public Information Officer Stacey Graves agreed.

“Chief Forté is interested in it. He’s for it,” Graves said. “By getting us a quick notification of shots being fired instead of waiting for a call, police officers can be dispatched quicker and move into an area faster where we know gunfire is happening. Hopefully, we can have a better response to a violent crime in progress (as a result).”

Knowing the exact location of the gunfire will also assist officers in locating the suspects as well as any victims, she said.

“Our department is very open to using technology to help us do our jobs better,” she said. “ShotSpotter would benefit the police department and the people we serve.”