East Palo Alto Expands Gunshot Location System Citywide
The East Palo Alto Police Department in California has finalized a contract with ShotSpotter Inc. to expand its ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System from the current coverage of one-half square mile to cover the entire city.
The expansion will make East Palo Alto the first city in the country to have citywide coverage. Completion is scheduled by the end of 2008.
Currently 32 cities across the US use the ShotSpotter GLS to provide with mission-essential wide-area acoustic surveillance. The system reliably detects and triangulates the location of gunshot and explosion incidents and tracks all historical incident data for intelligence, crime analysis and predictive analysis. The system data has been successfully used to create strategic and tactical operations and build proactive anti-crime strategies.
The ShotSpotter GLS system was activated in late 2007 and has since tracked an average of 30 gunshots per month (more than 400 gunshots since its implementation).
The system thus far has resulted in the recovery of ten firearms and the arrest of seven suspects and has assisted police in recovering vital evidence on several occasions. In one shooting incident, a gunshot victim at Stanford Hospital advised medical personnel he was shot in East Palo Alto. However, the system proved the shooting did not occur within the city. After further investigation it was determined that the victim accidentally shot himself while committing an armed robbery in another city.
“The expansion of ShotSpotter citywide will enhance our ability to further reduce gun violence and enhance overall public safety,” said East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis.
“Every day the East Palo Alto Police Department uses data provided by their ShotSpotter GLS system to eradicate gun violence within their community,” said Gregg Rowland, senior vice president of ShotSpotter. “As the first city in the world to protect their entire city with the ShotSpotter GLS, East Palo Alto officers will be able to have a more complete picture of the city’s gun crime problem. Analytics and data provided by the citywide implementation of the ShotSpotter GLS will allow them to better monitor, respond and analyze gun-crime trends and continue to develop successful proactive operations and programs for eradicating gun violence within East Palo Alto.”