The Post and Courier: When SC Residents are Afraid to Call the Police, Technology Alerts Officers of Gunshots

At 12:50 a.m. June 17, the sound of gunshots rips through a neighborhood in northern Columbia.

A sensor relay picks up the sound waves, triangulating their origin — 5118-2 Mauldin Ave. Alerts are sent to officers, who converge on the scene, according to a police report. They recover seven shell casings from a .22-caliber firearm. No one is injured or arrested, and no firearm is found at the scene.

Columbia’s leaders are pointing to calls like this as key parts in a policing strategy designed to make the city safer and reforge bonds of trust with the community…