NYPD Deploys Gunshot Detectors Around Brooklyn

Last year, the NYPD started using ShotSpotter, a technology that helps police automatically detect the sound of gunshots, and pinpoint where they came from in real time. Over the past year, the police department has deployed hundreds of tiny sensors on rooftops and light posts in several gun violence-prone precincts in Brooklyn and The Bronx.

From DNAinfo:

Now, the city is looking to significantly expand the ShotSpotter technology, rolling it out to all five boroughs with a $3 million allocation in the mayor’s proposed budget.

The funds are pending approval by the City Council, which must make its decision by June 1.

The equipment picks up gunshot blasts, analyzing the data and relaying that information to police, all within between 30 to 45 seconds after a shooting, according to ShotSpotter CEO Ralph A. Clark.

Throughout the year, ShotSpotter started showing up in police reports and shooting investigations; in April, the system went live in Upper Manhattan and more areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn, the NYPD said, covering a total of 24 square miles.

To find out how exactly the technology works, who has access to the data and where ShotSpotter hopes to deploy in the future, DNAinfo spoke with Clark about the company, founded in the mid-1990s with its first gunshot detection system installed in Redwood City, Calif. in 1997.

Click here to read the interview at DNAinfo.com.