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Sniper Detectors Coming to America's Heartland
Gunshots ring out in the dead of night, and not a single person reports it. Yet police know exactly where the shots came from, even before they arrive on the scene.
It sounds like a scene from The Minority Report, but it's real. A new technology called ShotSpotter enables law enforcement officials to precisely and instantaneously locate shooters, and it has been quietly rolling out across America. From Long Island, N.Y., to San Francisco, Calif., more than 60 cities in the U.S. have been leveraging ShotSpotter to make their streets safer.
Technology to precisely and instantaneously locate shooters -- called ShotSpotter -- has been quietly rolled out across America.
Minneapolis has already adopted it. And this past week three more cities from the heartland -- Flint, Mich.; Youngstown, Ohio; and Omaha, Neb. -- have begun testing or furthered plans to roll it out.
The Youngstown Police Department decided to go very public by posting frank warning signs, such as this one at the Youngstown Elementary School:
"If You Fire a Gun, We Will Find You."
ShotSpotter relies on wide-area acoustic surveillance and GPS technology to triangulate the source of gunshots. Sensors are fixed to buildings and poles to provide coverage over a fixed area. With audio-analysis software, it can identify whether a shooter is stationary or moving -- meaning police officers can be equipped with information on the speed and direction of, say, a vehicle from which a shot was fired.
It can also "hear" the acoustic signature and distinguish between calibers and types of firearms. Similarly, it can hear different explosions and classify them, from vehicle backfires to fireworks to bombs.
The ShotSpotter Gunfire Alert system then relays the location and data to the police or a dispatch computer within moments, enabling a more rapid response time for both police and first responders.
The best part: ShotSpotter works. It's accurate to 10 to 15 feet, and some police departments are reporting accuracy to within five feet. In Long Island's Nassau County, gun violence was reduced by a whopping 90 percent at the close of this year's first quarter.
Other countries, including Brazil, have jumped on the ShotSpotter bandwagon. In preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil conducted its first live-fire calibration tests this month, using more than 70 hidden sensors in urban areas.
But technology this effective doesn't come cheap. The subscription-based implementation called ShotSpotter Flex costs as much as $60,000 per square mile. Rocky Mount, N.C., uses it monitor a large portion of the city. The Omaha, Neb., police department, which began live-fire testing last week, solved the cost challenge with a grant from the Justice Department.
In many U.S. cities, only a small fraction of gunshots are reported. With this system, created by the 15-year-old Mountain View, Calif., technology firm SST, Inc, police and first responders don't have to rely on citizen reports. Indeed, the time this technology saves can save a life.
The system also lets police identify patterns of gun violence over time. For example, if the system regularly ties a specific house to gunfire, it may flag it as a source of problems. And ShotSpotter can improve criminal forensics, helping boost a prosecutor's case.
Such gunshot-detection systems began to make headway in the '90s, but false positives have been an ongoing problem. ShotSpotter can be taught sounds and can learn from its mistakes, setting it apart from the pack.
The company also offers a separate gunshot screener product for dispatch centers that improves the rate of accuracy and reduces false positives. The system can transmit a sound to a call center, where acoustics experts can examine the waveform and tell within moments whether it came from a firearm or a firecracker.
Unlike a lot of other wide-area surveillance systems on the market, ShotSpotter doesn't require a clear line of sight and provides much farther range of coverage around a single sensor -- up to approximately one mile unhindered.
ShotSpotting could advance to incorporate surveillance video, so that as a shot is heard and pinpointed, video could document the shooter -- making it easier to identify a suspect and faster to make an arrest. Some police departments have been looking at using Avrio RMS cameras that react to gunfire by spinning toward its source.
Also in the pipeline, SST is developing a wearable gunshot detection system built into a vest, including acoustic sensors, integrated GPS and display.
When gun-wielding miscreants get the message that not only will they be immediately detected but also instantaneously located, shooting that firearm should become a whole lot less appealing
Rochester has had it for a very long time now, and it doesn't do much beyond letting law enforcement know that a shot was fired. They show up, find some shells, and if they get lucky the idiots are still standing there with a smoking gun.
I wonder if this was the secret weapon we used in Iraq that Bob Woodward declined to describe.
We never used it over there.
The 'secret weapon' probably had a lot more to do with intercepting cell phone calls and using their signal to follow them and raid their houses.
Spent a lot of nights driving around waiting for some bad guy to use a phone.
Quote from: Alcibiades on December 22, 2011, 03:30:32 PM
We never used it over there.
The 'secret weapon' probably had a lot more to do with intercepting cell phone calls and using their signal to follow them and raid their houses.
Spent a lot of nights driving around waiting for some bad guy to use a phone.
Sort of like the BBC.
That was my job during military service. Though we were trying to detect bigger guns. Like howitzers. And our microphones were mobile which required careful surveying of the coordinates in those whacky pre-GPS days.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on December 22, 2011, 03:28:38 PM
I wonder if this was the secret weapon we used in Iraq that Bob Woodward declined to describe.
I wouldn't think it would be to useful there. People are shooting at each other all the time. Trying distinguish where one shot came from out of thousands of shots all across the city would be difficult.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 22, 2011, 04:26:31 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on December 22, 2011, 03:28:38 PM
I wonder if this was the secret weapon we used in Iraq that Bob Woodward declined to describe.
I wouldn't think it would be to useful there. Trying distinguish where one shot came from out of thousands of shots all across the city would be difficult.
Heck, I question its usefulness in America for the same reason.
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
Is it just me or is the article somehow presenting this as a bad thing?
Quote from: Tyr on December 22, 2011, 09:44:47 PM
Is it just me or is the article somehow presenting this as a bad thing?
Must be you. I think it's a bad thing, but the article seems to me to be saying it's a good thing.
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 06:05:28 PM
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
Pretty sure that inside the limits of most towns, it almost certainly always is. Even if it is just the act of discharging a weapon itself.
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 06:05:28 PM
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
:huh:
I generally consider it a problem when people are shooting guns outside of buildings near me.
Quote from: Strix on December 22, 2011, 03:24:03 PM
Rochester has had it for a very long time now, and it doesn't do much beyond letting law enforcement know that a shot was fired. They show up, find some shells, and if they get lucky the idiots are still standing there with a smoking gun.
Yeah, I was wondering if the technology of running away has caught up with this super weapon.
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 10:29:03 PM
Quote from: Tyr on December 22, 2011, 09:44:47 PM
Is it just me or is the article somehow presenting this as a bad thing?
Must be you. I think it's a bad thing, but the article seems to me to be saying it's a good thing.
:blink:
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 06:05:28 PM
Heck, I question its usefulness in America for the same reason.
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
:huh: :wacko: See, this kind of silliness is what gives fuel to people like Martinus. Unless you live in Iraq, firing a gun in populated areas most surely is not OK.
Actually I don't know. Do larger towns have outdoor shooting ranges? I know Jefferson City has some just outside the city limits. There might be one inside the city limits. I've never actually checked. I think the police tend to frown on you shooting just anywhere inside the city though. I wonder if can distinguish between gun shots and fireworks. People aren't suppose to shoot off fireworks in the city either, but they do anyway and nobody really cares (unless a house burns down or someone's hand gets blown off).
Quote from: Razgovory on December 23, 2011, 02:13:03 AM
Actually I don't know. Do larger towns have outdoor shooting ranges? I know Jefferson City has some just outside the city limits. There might be one inside the city limits. I've never actually checked. I think the police tend to frown on you shooting just anywhere inside the city though. I wonder if can distinguish between gun shots and fireworks. People aren't suppose to shoot off fireworks in the city either, but they do anyway and nobody really cares (unless a house burns down or someone's hand gets blown off).
I'm sure that police are aware of gun ranges inside the city, even if such exists, so they could just ignore the hits from that general area. Given the precision of the system, I can see that easily being done.
Quote from: DGuller on December 23, 2011, 02:02:26 AM
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 06:05:28 PM
Heck, I question its usefulness in America for the same reason.
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
:huh: :wacko: See, this kind of silliness is what gives fuel to people like Martinus. Unless you live in Iraq, firing a gun in populated areas most surely is not OK.
I pop off shots at quail or coyotes regularly. :sleep:
Quote from: KRonn on December 22, 2011, 03:18:44 PM
Also in the pipeline, SST is developing a wearable gunshot detection system built into a vest, including acoustic sensors, integrated GPS and display.
This technology is already fielded for US and UK infantry troops. There's a shoulder mounted detector and a wrist-worn display which gives you bearing and distance instantly.
Don't believe this is "only in America" technology. We've already got it in several cities in the UK where it's linked up to our Big Brother CCTV system to immediately film the perpetrators. Other European cities have it too.
We've had them in Baltimore for some time now.
When they started to deploy them at the East Baltimore campus, I got the administrative smackdown for saying the bodies would still be better indicators. Nyuk, nyuk.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 23, 2011, 02:13:03 AM
I wonder if can distinguish between gun shots and fireworks.
Yes, they can.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 23, 2011, 07:58:16 AM
We've had them in Baltimore for some time now.
When they started to deploy them at the East Baltimore campus, I got the administrative smackdown for saying the bodies would still be better indicators. Nyuk, nyuk.
:lol:
Quote from: Ed Anger on December 23, 2011, 08:56:04 AM
:lol:
I didn't invent the boss's-facepalm-in-front-of-important-people, I just induce them.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 23, 2011, 02:13:03 AM
Actually I don't know. Do larger towns have outdoor shooting ranges? I know Jefferson City has some just outside the city limits. There might be one inside the city limits. I've never actually checked. I think the police tend to frown on you shooting just anywhere inside the city though. I wonder if can distinguish between gun shots and fireworks. People aren't suppose to shoot off fireworks in the city either, but they do anyway and nobody really cares (unless a house burns down or someone's hand gets blown off).
I don't think there are any outdoor shooting ranges in Louisville proper but the surrounding area is practically ringed with them, and I think every large state park has a free one (the state park near me has one, and I've used it several times).
If you have a big enough piece of property here you can get away with shooting on it. Guy I used to work with has a friend who has a backyard range (and he lives in Louisville) and they shoot there all the time.
I know if the neighbor's dog doesn't stop coming onto my property and growling at my kids, I'm gonna shoot the motherfucker.
Quote from: Ed Anger on December 23, 2011, 12:28:53 PM
I know if the neighbor's dog doesn't stop coming onto my property and growling at my kids, I'm gonna shoot the motherfucker.
You sound like my neighbor. :hug:
Quote from: Caliga on December 23, 2011, 01:39:02 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on December 23, 2011, 12:28:53 PM
I know if the neighbor's dog doesn't stop coming onto my property and growling at my kids, I'm gonna shoot the motherfucker.
You sound like my neighbor. :hug:
The poors across the street need to be taught an object lesson.
Quote from: DGuller on December 23, 2011, 02:02:26 AM
Quote from: dps on December 22, 2011, 06:05:28 PM
Heck, I question its usefulness in America for the same reason.
And why do the police have any business knowing exactly when and where a gun was fired anyway? 99.99% of the time, there's no criminal act involved.
:huh: :wacko: See, this kind of silliness is what gives fuel to people like Martinus. Unless you live in Iraq, firing a gun in populated areas most surely is not OK.
Generally, inside an incorporated municipalitiy, yes there are local ordinances against discharging a weapon. But there are plenty of populated areas outside of municipal limits that aren't covered by those ordinances, so it's generally not a crime if someone fires a gun unless they're shooting at someone.
But in re-reading the article, I guess this is just being put in place within cities, so my criticism wouldn't apply.
This is not gonna end well.
Next, we can't own fireants no more.
Quote from: Ed Anger on December 24, 2011, 02:56:59 PM
The poors across the street need to be taught an object lesson.
If your neighbors are "poors", maybe you should move to a ritzier neighborhood.
Quote from: Ender on December 25, 2011, 12:04:40 AM
This is not gonna end well.
Next, we can't own fireants no more.
When the fireants are outlawed, only the outlaws will have fireants.
Raised in mafia-run antfarms.