Baltimore Police Using 'ShotSpotter' To Combat Gun Violence
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- New crime-fighting technology is in operation in Baltimore. It's called "ShotSpotter" and it notifies police when and where shots are fired.
It's a real-time alert system that uses audio sensors to hear shots and map out locations for police on their smartphones.
Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said they want to speed up their response time, alerting police to gun fire within 45 seconds.
Police spokesperson T.J. Smith said the technology allows officers to "safely go to the area with a lot more information than quite honestly they would get from dispatch because you're able to see the geography."
ShotSpotter is part of the city's crime-fighting arsenal but not a solution to gun violence itself. Police want to emphasize that this is not a substitute for calling 911.
"You can't predict peoples' intent or behavior and you certainly can't control it," Tuggle said. "But all of these things working together, sort of seamlessly, we'll be able to get more in front of it than behind it."
There were no victims in any of the incidents recorded Thursday night.
The system is funded through an $860,000 Bloomberg Foundation grant.
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