Members of the City Council’s Finance Committee recently recommended a $400,000, three-year contract with ShotSpotter, Inc., a system officials said would increase enforcement against shots fired in the city and potentially save lives.
Aurora Police Cmdr. Steve Stemmet told committee members he sees one of the biggest benefits of ShotSpotter as the ability to triangulate where gunfire took place.
“We’ve seen officers where they can pull up to that scene, open the car door, and find shell casings right there,” he said.
Stemmet said one of the problems police encounter is that when shots fired are reported through the 911 emergency system, they cannot always isolate where it happened.
But worse yet is that most shots fired are not reported. Trish Lane, of ShotSpotter, said nationwide, 80% of shots fired go unreported. In 2021, there were 357 calls for shots fired in Aurora.
The gunshots are not reported for a number of reasons, including people being afraid to report them, or confusing them for something else, like fireworks.
Lane said if shots fired are not reported, the police do not respond, and that “leads to the normalization of gunfire.”
“People don’t expect to see police because they didn’t see them the last 10 times there was gunfire, and they don’t expect to see them now,” she said.
Lane said ShotSpotter installs acoustic sensors in a given area. The sensors filter out things like fireworks, and focuses on actual gunfire. It then triangulates where the gunfire came from and reports it to listeners in Washington, D.C., who dispatch information to the local police agency.
“So now, your citizens are going to see police response to this gunfire where they haven’t before,” she said.
She said the “most compelling” reason for ShotSpotter is that by “getting there quickly, they can help save a life.”
The system is used in Rockford, Springfield, Peoria, North Chicago and Chicago.
“I think this tool will make us more successful,” said Stemmet.
The system works like a cell service — the city would buy so much service from ShotSpotter, which installs and services all the equipment. Stemmet said Aurora is looking at buying two square miles of service, at least to begin with.
He said the city is looking at the Melrose Street and South Fourth Street area, although the exact service area has not been decided upon yet, he said.
Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, Finance Committee chairman, pointed out that with more shots fired reported, it will look like Aurora has “a crime wave,” and put the city “in a bad light.”
“But it’s always been there, we just have more accurate reporting now,” he said.
Alex Alexandrou, the city’s chief management officer, said he is “not worried about people’s perceptions,” because it should show people that the City Council, the mayor and the police are being proactive about stopping crime. He said using ShotSpotter fits with more laptops in patrol cars and the body-worn cameras on police officers.
“We’re filling gaps technology allows us to,” he said.
Ald. Sherman Jenkins, at large, noting that Chicago still has a large violent crime problem despite using ShotSpotter in sections of the city, said the system is “not going to solve all our problems.”
“It’s a tool to add to the bag to help us get to a safer community,” he said.
With the Finance Committee recommendation, the proposed contract will go before the full council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 15.
slord@tribpub.com
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