Shotspotter Coming to MorningSide

This map shows the areas where ShotSpotter will expand its network of gunshot detection sensors in Detroit. Image provided by the City of Detroit

After several delays in voting, City Council has approved an extended contract with ShotSpotter, Inc., the company that makes a controversial technology designed to detect gunshots and pinpoint their location. The original contract covered just 6 of the city’s 139 square miles. Now it will cover 28 square miles, including MorningSide, East English Village, and Cornerstone. The new contract runs through the end of 2024. It isn’t yet clear when the system will be operational in our community.

Detroiters have been deeply divided over this surveillance technology. Supporters hail it as an effective crime-fighting tool, while opponents say that it is an intrusive expansion of a surveillance society. They also call it a waste of money, citing other cities where contracts were ended because they damaged police-community relations and weren’t effective enough to warrant the funds.

In a compromise with some critics of ShotSpotter, the expanded $7 million contract will no longer be funded from ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act, but will be paid for using other city tax dollars.

Evaluating the effectiveness of ShotSpotter is difficult, given that the company owns the data generated and can determine when to share it and whom to share it with. We will have to rely on our police department and City Council to demand transparency and accountability.

For more details about the ShotSpotter controversy, check out the Bridge Detroit article here.