Board members approved on a voice vote an addendum to the school district's Memorandum of Understanding with school resource officers, allowing the Manchester Police Department to launch ShotSpotter technology and integrate Fusus technology — which allows participants to share live-time video with police in the event of a crime — into existing school district cameras.
The cost for the Fusus technology is $150,000, payable in two $75,000 installments in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, either using funds from a pending grant or from the general fund.
Manchester police received a federal grant of $300,000 earlier this year to cover the acquisition and implementation of ShotSpotter gunshot recognition technology for a two-year trial across a three-square-mile section of Manchester.
School board members who supported the addendum cited an incident last week when at least nine schools across New Hampshire received fake active-shooter threats, disrupting the school day for hundreds of students.
Supporters of the technology said they believe it will allow Manchester police to respond to emergency situations more quickly.
"What happened last Friday was very personal to me," said school board member Karen Soule. "I don't think, if you haven't experienced it, you know how much this impacts the kids."
"If this helps a team of police officers get to a school three minutes faster than they would have otherwise, I think it's worth the money," said school board member Ken Tassey.
Manchester police previously announced ShotSpotter technology should be up and running sometime this month. City police say the technology will result — in theory — in quicker response times to incidents of gun violence.
HOW IT WORKS
ShotSpotter uses a series of small audio sensors positioned high atop light posts and buildings. When a gun is fired, the sensors triangulate on the sound and pinpoint the number of shots fired and their location.
Each acoustic sensor captures the time and audio associated with sounds that may represent gunfire. The data are used to locate the incident and then filtered by machine algorithms to classify the event as a potential gunshot.
Acoustic experts in ShotSpotter's Incident Review Center then confirm the incident is indeed gunfire before contacting local police, a process the company claims takes less than 60 seconds from the time of the shooting.
Manchester would be the first police department in the state to deploy the technology.
"God forbid we have a shooting inside or outside one of our schools," Police Chief Allen Aldenberg told school board members this week. "Once we get that ShotSpotter alert, the cameras that we have up or have access to, will automatically appear in my dispatch center — they start to communicate and integrate with one another. The areas will come up so that my dispatchers will see it in real time."
ShotSpotter's gunshot detection system is controversial, with some studies claiming it can be ineffective while others finding it reduces incidents of gun violence.
Fusus software allows police to view a map of registered surveillance cameras and access their video feeds in real time. Camera owners have to opt into the system for police to see their camera feeds.
The software has artificial intelligence capabilities that police can use to search for specific items like a certain color garment, or specific make, color and model of vehicle.
Officials say the software's artificial intelligence can't recognize faces or scan for people of a certain race.
Before voting to approve using the technology, several school board members voiced concerns over how the cameras could impact student privacy.
"I recognize this technology is important and I know that if we wait it could infringe on the safety of our students," said school board member Jason Bonilla. "But my concern, which will always be present, is I hope that this technology does not further exploit our students, especially our students of color."
Aldenberg said his department is sensitive to the concerns.
"That's why we have the internal audit built into it, so at any time we can run an audit and make sure that cameras aren't being viewed when they shouldn't be viewed," Aldenberg said. "If we find that to be the case, we find out who did it, why they did it and then take the appropriate action internally."
"We're conscious of student confidentiality," said school district chief legal officer Katie Cox Pelletier. "We can see what the data is and how often it is used."
©2022 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
