Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

UK: Police Departments Are Using Gunshot-Tracking Technology To Pinpoint Fireworks

ShotSpotter was designed to pinpoint gunshots. Now police are using it to find people setting off illegal fireworks.

In more than 100 cities around the United States, audio detectors sitting on streetlamps and on the tops of buildings are listening for gunshots. The company selling these devices, ShotSpotter, claims it is the “first step to all of the subsequent gun crime reduction strategies,” according to its pitch documents.

But ShotSpotter audio detectors are also capturing and logging the sounds of fireworks. The data is kept as long as the city has a relationship with ShotSpotter. In cities like Richmond, California, the police are using ShotSpotter to go after people selling and setting off illegal fireworks.

According to the Richmond Standard, police in the Northern California city were "using Shotspotter data and other information to identify hotspots for fireworks use. Recent fireworks hotspots in Richmond have been at 5th and Chanslor, 20th and Chanslor, Pullman Point Apartments and Hartnett Apartments."

The Richmond Police Department did not return requests for comment from BuzzFeed News.

Although we don’t know whether law enforcement beyond Richmond has used ShotSpotter data to police illegal fireworks displays, the company does provide data about fireworks use to every police department it works for - and that alone has critics worried.

Dennis Mares, a professor of criminal justice at Southern Illinois University who has studied ShotSpotter, told BuzzFeed News it would be ill-conceived to use tools like ShotSpotter to target illegal fireworks.

“I think that's a bad idea,” he said. “If you're going to send police to respond to minor incidents like fireworks, I think that's probably not good for community relationships.”

ShotSpotter pitches itself as an ethical way for police to conduct surveillance. The company argues that since its detectors are only triggered by very loud, abrupt noises, police can use it to respond to gun violence in communities that might not report shootings. Treating gun violence seriously, the company says, can help police departments build trust in those communities.

But by using ShotSpotter to go after illegal fireworks, critics fear that police departments are pushing that surveillance technology beyond the scope of its intended applications.

ShotSpotter representative Scott Beisner told BuzzFeed News that the company doesn't endorse police using its product to investigate illegal fireworks, but said that the tool could be used in this way.

“[Police] need to be spending their time on the violent gunfire that's happening,” Beisner said. “Fireworks are dangerous, but less dangerous than gunfire. So maybe sending community resources officers in the next day into these areas and educating the public might be a better approach than sending a police response into some of these neighborhoods.”

ShotSpotter is triggered by loud, “impulsive” noises that might be gunshots, which could include fireworks, helicopters, construction sounds, or thunder.

Once the system registers a sound, an algorithm classifies it as a potential gunshot or not. Once the software makes a guess, information about the incident is sent to ShotSpotter’s Incident Review Center at the company's headquarters in Newark, California. There, one of the two dozen employees reviews a few bits of data — an audio clip, sound-wave formations, and a map — to make a human estimate of whether the noise was a gunshot, and whether multiple shooters or an automatic weapon might be involved.

But this time of year, the system takes a shortcut, assuming that many people will be setting off fireworks around the 4th of July. It bypasses human review for many of those sounds, instead sending those reports directly to the police.

“Usually a couple weeks before and about a week after 4th of July, we will go into what we call fireworks suppression mode,” Beisner said. “If the machine thinks it's fireworks at a certain confidence level, then it will just automatically dismiss that and it never gets presented to our review center.”

But all incidents, even the ones that bypass human review, end up in ShotSpotter’s Investigator Portal, an interactive map showing every incident of possible gunfire, fireworks, and other noises.

If police want to visualize and target places where there may have been illegal fireworks, the Investigator Portal allows them to do so with relative ease.

Mares said that he’s concerned about how ShotSpotter could be used to surveil and over-police nonviolent crimes in communities of color.

“Most of this technology ends up in minority communities,” he said. “ We already have a long history of issues in those communities with police relationships… Where's it going to end?"

ShotSpotter isn’t usually on every block in a city. Usually, it targets areas where there has been gun violence in the past. The result is often that ShotSpotter can often be used in what critics call over-policed areas — meaning that ShotSpotter will only report illegal fireworks in those places, leading to a disparate impact of the technology.

New York City paid $1.5 million for ShotSpotter in 2015, and it’s since expanded the service. It's a major client for the company: According to a ShotSpotter SEC filing in 2020, the company's contracts with Chicago and New York made up 19% and 13% of the company’s revenue for the first three months of 2020.

New York City has also seen a dramatic increase in people setting off fireworks. For instance, the city received 1,680 complaints for illegal fireworks in one week in June, up from just 12 complaints in the equivalent week last year.

meaning that ShotSpotter will only report illegal fireworks in those places, leading to a disparate impact of the technology.

New York City paid $1.5 million for ShotSpotter in 2015, and it’s since expanded the service. It's a major client for the company: According to a ShotSpotter SEC filing in 2020, the company's contracts with Chicago and New York made up 19% and 13% of the company’s revenue for the first three months of 2020.

New York City has also seen a dramatic increase in people setting off fireworks. For instance, the city received 1,680 complaints for illegal fireworks in one week in June, up from just 12 complaints in the equivalent week last year.

Although New Yorkers have been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement and demonstrations calling to defund the police, the NYPD has continued to respond violently to protests in recent weeks - shoving, pepper-spraying, and arresting protesters.

Illegal fireworks are just the latest nonviolent activity that police have decided to pursue. In Flatbush, police arrived in riot gear, closed off a block, raided an apartment, and arrested at least one person following reports of fireworks. Days later, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that 40 law enforcement officials would be on a fireworks task force to arrest the “big fish.”

ShotSpotter makes hefty promises. According to documents the company gave to Baltimore in 2018, which BuzzFeed News obtained via a public records request, ShotSpotter told police that it could allow “faster evidence collection and witness identification,” “improved community relations and collaboration,” and “increased suspect leads [and] suspect arrests.” Baltimore paid $850,000 for one year of ShotSpotter, financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

But a study of the St. Louis Police Department found that while ShotSpotter increased the number of calls for service for gunfire, it did not actually reduce crime or result in many arrests.

Over 19,000 calls for service were activated by ShotSpotter over a decade. Out of these 19,000, only 13 arrests were "uniquely tied" to ShotSpotter - arrests that couldn't have happened without the technology.

“So in most cases, is there an added value [to having ShotSpotter]? I'm not sure of that,” Mares, who worked on the study, told BuzzFeed News.

Some cities, like Fall River, Massachusetts, canceled their ShotSpotter subscription.

That may be leading the company - which had a net income of $13,000 in the first three months of 2020 - to look for new applications of its technology. “If we are unable to maintain and expand coverage of our existing public safety customer accounts and further penetrate the public safety market, our revenues may not grow,” a recent ShotSpotter SEC filing read.

The company is already trying to prove its usefulness to police. It acquired a predictive policing company, HunchLab, in 2018. ShotSpotter also offers surveillance camera integration — meaning if ShotSpotter detects a loud noise, it will trigger a camera in the area to start recording. Minneapolis police use this feature, and Baltimore police paid $19,000 for it in 2018. Boston police even use ShotSpotter data to monitor people on parole, and “maintain 24x7x365 awareness of any parolee who may be violating the terms of parole by committing crimes or consorting with those doing likewise,” according to company documents.

But critics fear that if ShotSpotter happens to be a useful way to go after fireworks, the company is not in a position to discourage the practice. The company’s financial future depends on proving its usefulness and expanding coverage areas.

“I think it's a slippery slope, to be honest,” Mares said. “So now we got fireworks. What’s going to be the next step? When somebody slams the door loudly? Technically, there's no limit to what you can do with audio detection.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×