Gunshot Detection Technology Spurs Debate Over Policing and Surveillance
Seattle, Portland and Detroit are among the US cities weighing the usefulness of ShotSpotter sensors, which have drawn criticism from civil rights groups.
A Chicago police evidence technician takes a photo of a gun at a crime scene in Chicago in 2022.
Photographer: Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
By the second hour of the city council meeting, it was clear that many Detroit residents agreed on one thing: The city needed to be doing more to stem violence in their neighborhoods. A series of residents shared stories of loved ones who fell victim to gun violence, or incidents where they were victimized themselves.
“My wife and I, every night, we hear shots around us,” one resident of the city’s sixth district said during the Oct. 11 meeting. “We don’t know when a lost bullet is going to hit us.”