As ShotSpotter rolls out in Tacoma, feelings over gunshot detection technology remain mixed

In an effort to curb gun crime, Tacoma announced last year that it was turning to a tool called ShotSpotter. ShotSpotter is a form of Gun Detection Technology (GDT), which uses a series of acoustic microphone sensors to track loud bangs, booms, and pops in a designated area. Once those “dynamic events” are triggered, a human classifier verifies the sound was a gunshot and alerts local police. The entire process happens within 60 seconds or less. 

To learn more, Soundside spoke with a group of community advocates who’ve spoken against the technology at ShotSpotter information sessions in Tacoma; Alfred Lewers Jr., the Senior Director of Trauma Response and Community Engagement at SoundThinking; and Eric Piza, a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston who’s studied the use of ShotSpotter in major cities like Chicago and Kansas City.