SAB members will receive police updates during its Thursday meeting regarding the implementation and usage of that detection technology. Vallejo Police Department Lieutenant Sanjay Ramrakha told the board at its previous meeting that despite the city council authorizing the installation of 100 gunshot detection devices in December, technical issues have kept them "stuck in the mud" and nonfunctional.
That data may be utilized among board members to provide the city council a recommendation at the end of the trial time as to whether or not Vallejo should keep — and pay for — the devices.
The detectors were provided to the city on a year-long beta period by Flock Safety, a public safety operating system business based in Atlanta. According to Ramrakha, the beta period had yet to begin until the devices, being installed in high firearm activity areas across Vallejo, were operational.
The status of the devices is unclear. Flock Safety wrote in an email to the Times-Herald that installation for the gunshot technology system has yet to be fully installed, pending further coordination with the city that it anticipates being resolved in the coming weeks.
SAB Chair Andrea Sorce told the Times-Herald ahead of Thursday's meeting that she isn't yet aware if the VPD is using them. Both police and the city of Vallejo were unable to provide information prior to publication as to the status of the detection technology since SAB's May meeting.
Having functioning gunshot detection now requires the police department to provide the SAB with a draft policy for its usage. Ramrakha told the board in May that the police department refuses to use the technology in a gray area without enforcement. The department, Sorce said, has submitted a draft that will be up for board discussion.
According to SAB's Thursday agenda, the board will also consider forming an ad-hoc committee to assess the police department's usage and privacy policies surrounding the gunshot technology. Sorce said she would consider volunteering.
The SAB is meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the lower level of Vallejo's John F. Kennedy Library.
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