Chicago Tribune: With ShotSpotter Staying in Chicago for the Time Being, Dispute Continues Over the System’s Usefulness

Early one morning last May, on a bungalow-lined street in Avalon Park, ShotSpotter detected real gunshots: more than half a dozen rounds fired.

It was a busy night, and officers didn’t make it to the scene for more than half an hour. But when they arrived they found 24-year-old Aréanah Preston, a Loyola law student and Chicago police officer, fatally shot on her front lawn.

Late one night in January, on a residential block of Auburn Gresham, ShotSpotter detected what likely were just fireworks.

But the alert sent officers out looking for a shooter, and when they got there they heard a loud bang. One officer opened fire in the direction of a boy who had just set off a firecracker, but did not hit him…