Science Seyz Kansas City 'ShotSpotter' Stays Losing Fight Against Crime

Fun fact that isn't included in any other news report . . .

It was actually old school political consultant Steve Glorioso who pushed ShotSpotter tech through Kansas City council. It was one of his many contracts to wield influence.

Around the same time he helped establish "red light cameras" that were ultimately outlawed by the Missouri General Assembly. 

The bigger question as A.I. moves forward . . .

HOW MUCH WILL TECHNOLOGY HELP SOLVE RISING CRIME?!?!

From our vantage . . . Even though we love tech . . . We'd like to see more REAL LIFE FLESH & BLOOD COPS on the street even at the expense of fewer gadgets. 

Here's the public radio blog making a point we've been talking about on this blog for more than a decade:

An academic research project funded by the National Institute of Justice found that the use of ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology, resulted in a few benefits but didn’t meet its original goal of increased prosecutions of gun-related crime.

ShotSpotter is an “acoustic surveillance technology,” according to its manufacturer, with audio sensors placed in strategic areas — typically on rooftops or utility poles — that detect gunfire, locate the area, then send the real-time data to police via 911, officers’ desktops, smart phones or smart watches.

Kansas City has used ShotSpotter since 2012, a decade when the city’s homicide rate repeatedly set records.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

ShotSpotter gunshot detection system fails to reduce violent crime in Kansas City, study says

The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners recently approved spending $200,000 for another year of ShotSpotter, a surveillance technology, despite a new study that says it doesn't achieve the city's public safety goals.