Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Costs a bunch. Doesn't work. Let's buy it!!!---Recommended gunshot sensor has iffy accuracy

Recommended gunshot sensor has iffy accuracy | WOODTV.com:
"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — One of the recommendations from a task force aiming to make Grand Rapids safer would come with a hefty price tag and is not working well in some other cities.
The task force presented 50 recommendations in its SAFE report to the city on Tuesday.
Among them was a suggestion to install devices that are supposed to detect the sound of gunshots in neighborhoods.
They’re called ShotSpotters.
They’re supposed to sense when shots are fired and alert police, speeding up response times.
Installing the ShotSpotters would cost the city $45,000 per square mile, according to task force chair and Third Ward City Commissioner Senita Lenear.
...In one report from Connecticut, police records from 2012 showed that out of 60 ShotSpotter alerts, only six were confirmed gunfire.
That’s an accuracy rate of only 10 percent. 
A police memo from the next year showed 8 percent accuracy.
...“I think it’s money well spent,” Grand Rapids Police Department Chief David Rahinsky said.
He favors implementing the system.
He was also not aware of any problems with ShotSpotters until 24 Hour News 8 brought them to him, but they didn’t change his mind..."

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