Editorial: Spotting the problems with ShotSpotter responses

Chicago is discontinuing its use of ShotSpotter, a sound technology used to identify and locate gunfire in a community.

Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t like the program or the money that went toward it. Since signing a contract in 2019, Chicago has given software company SoundThinking about $9 million a year for the system of microphones and computer programs.

It isn’t surprising that Chicago embraced ShotSpotter. The city has had a notorious problem with gun violence. Numbers were down in 2023, but a 12% drop in gun deaths that still sees 671 people killed is hard to call successful.

Johnson campaigned on his opposition to ShotSpotter. He blamed the program, in part, in the 2021 death of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old boy killed when police responded to a ShotSpotter call. That same year, the Chicago Inspector General took issue with the program’s effectiveness and effect on minority communities. And the Associated Press reported about a 65-year-old man who spent months in jail accused of killing a man based on the sonic tech only to have it dismissed because of a lack of evidence.

Also in 2021, Pittsburgh signed its $8.3 million contract with SoundThinking. That contract continues through 2025. Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto said he has no intention of changing that. In fact, Pittsburgh will spend another $85,000 to expand the service to the Carrick neighborhood this year.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about it,” said District 4 councilman Anthony Coghill, who represents that Carrick area.

Other areas such as Charlotte, N.C., and San Antonio, Texas, also have walked away from ShotSpotter. That still leaves many more, with about 150 cities signing on, including New York, Miami and Boston.

The competing concerns of addressing the problems of gun violence as well as the pitfalls of technology put cities in a difficult position. Pittsburgh is trying to address a serious issue by quickly and efficiently responding to gunshots, even if no one calls 911. But inaccuracies and deployment of tech in a way that could be or become racist can’t be dismissed.

As some people support ShotSpotter and others decry it, a glaring question exists: If this isn’t the solution, what is?

The answer is there is no single solution. There needs to be a network of prevention and response to address gun crimes and their fallout. Ask Kansas City. Ask Uvalde. Drive around Pittsburgh, from where the Tree of Life synagogue stood to Downtown where a baby was shot in his mother’s car to Oliver Citywide Academy and see that one fix is enough.

It isn’t troubling that Pittsburgh is keeping ShotSpotter. It’s a tool that has proven useful. What is concerning is the lockstep support that doesn’t acknowledge potential issues that need to be monitored.