New Haven Focues on Tripling ShotSpotter Coverage

From the City of New Haven Connecticut:

New Haven, CT- A shot rings out but who’s there to hear and report it? Before September 21, 2009, the answer was clear – either a nearby officer or an alert resident. The reliance on public reporting is still vitally important but in neighborhoods with higher incidents of gunfire, the city’s ShotSpotter system adds the acoustic surveillance necessary to confirm reports and detect what may not be otherwise reported.

In 2009, the city’s ShotSpotter system was new technology and only used by a handful of departments. It developed over the years to become the leader in gunshot detection and a valuable tool for the NHPD.

ShotSpotter works to triangulate the acoustic sound in a muzzle blast. It is detected by sensors that are varying distances away. The sound hits the sensors at different times and therefore pinpoints the precise location of the shot.

In forty-five seconds or less, the sound is analyzed at an incident review center and an alert goes out. The IRC will eliminate false positives such as a car’s backfire or fireworks.

As the ShotSpotter capabilities expand, so will New Haven’s detection coverage area. The specific geographic boundaries are guarded information.

Officers will get the information as quickly as the PSAP dispatchers. ShotSpotter alerts, along with the actual audio recording of the shots will display on any cruiser’s mobile data terminal, all supervisor’s smart-phones and on the phones of any officer who downloads the technology.

On Tuesday, 31 May, New Haven’s expanded ShotSpotter system went live. The original one-and-a-half square mile coverage has grown to cover five square miles.