ShotSpotter uses acoustic sensors to triangulate the exact location of gunshots and the city can then dispatch police to the correct location. ShotSpotter’s president told the Seattle City Council that 70 cities use the system, according to the Seattle Times.
The number of homicides in Seattle in 2012 already has exceeded the tally for all of 2011. In the latest incident of gun violence, a 21-year-old woman was killed and five others were wounded at a house party in South Seattle. In a separate incident in May, five others were killed by a lone gunman at a coffee shop.
Seattle’s consideration of the technology could lead to a pilot program that would be implemented in select neighborhoods.
