ShotSpotter’s days in Chicago are numbered, but some aldermen are trying — once again — to throw the gunshot detection system a last-minute lifeline.
Aldermen called on Mayor Brandon Johnson to abandon his plan to end the city’s use of the technology at a Public Safety Committee hearing Monday. Johnson plans to phase out ShotSpotter starting Sept. 22 over the course of two months, fulfilling a campaign pledge.
When that day comes, ShotSpotter supporters argued Monday, the city will be left without a critical tool police need to get to gunshot victims faster and save lives.
“I don’t understand what we are going to do if we are not going to protect the people that live here,” said Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th.
Nearly every alderman who spoke Monday voiced support for the technology that uses acoustic sensors mounted on light poles, mostly on the South and West Sides, to quickly alert police about the location of suspected gunfire. The broad backing for ShotSpotter marks a sharp division between Johnson and the City Council.
It’s a fight that has dragged on all year.
Johnson first moved to end ShotSpotter in February, but tacked on a two-month “transition period” for the company behind it, SoundThinking, after tense negotiations. At the time, he cited the $10 million-a-year system’s cost and concerns around its effectiveness.
The move spurred aldermen to action. Since Johnson’s decision, the City Council has tried a barrage of votes and hearings in an effort to build pressure to keep the detection network in place.
Johnson’s allies for months stalled a vote on legislation designed to give power over ShotSpotter’s future to the council and take that power away from the mayor. When it finally came up for a vote in May, aldermen passed it 34 to 14.
Afterward, however, Johnson argued the measure “did nothing” because the City Council does not have authority over the city’s contracts. His administration has repeatedly signaled it will move ahead with ending the technology’s use later this month, but did not respond to questions Monday.
ShotSpotter’s chief City Council proponent, Ald. David Moore, 17th, told the Tribune last week he is considering putting legislation up for a vote later this month ordering police Superintendent Larry Snelling to enter into a contract for a gunshot detection system system.
Moore’s ordinance was stalled by a Johnson ally with a parliamentary maneuver in July. Even if adopted by the council, it’s far from likely ShotSpotter would remain operational in Chicago because of the mayor’s broad powers over contracting.
On Monday, Moore and other ShotSpotter supporters touted new data collected by the Chicago Police Department showing how the system has been used this year.
CPD determined ShotSpotter was 99.6% accurate in correctly identifying gunshots in the nearly 30,000 alerts the system shared with officers this year through August, according to a CPD report read during the meeting by Ald. Brain Hopkins, 2nd.
Police responded 2.5 minutes faster to gunshot reports when a ShotSpotter alert was made and rendered aid to 143 gunshot victims after its alerts — including seven people who were treated despite no corresponding 911 call being made, Hopkins said.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, criticized Johnson for going ahead with his decision to end ShotSpotter “just to fit a political promise.”
“It’s very dangerous that we are sitting here 13 days from now, taking away one of the most effective tools that helps save lives,” Lopez said.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, called it “unfortunate” that the mayor, and not the City Council, will ultimately determine the technology’s fate.
“None of us want ShotSpotter in our wards,” he said. “But we need it.”
But while Taliaferro, Lopez and other aldermen praised the new data, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, cited a blistering 2021 report issued by the city’s Office of Inspector General.
The report found ShotSpotter rarely leads to evidence of crimes, investigatory steps and gun recoveries and tainted officers’ interactions with residents of neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. Separately, the MacArthur Justice Center is suing the city over its use of the tool, which it called “inaccurate, expensive and dangerous” in another 2021 study.
The gunshot detection system got more support Monday from former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who testified at the hearing about its effectiveness. Snelling, now at the department’s helm, was not in attendance, though Hopkins said the department had been given notice of the hearing. Snelling has broken with the mayor in the past to praise ShotSpotter as an important department tool.
SoundThinking Vice President Gary Bunyard told aldermen the company would incur the cost of removing its over 2,000 sensors scattered across the city. There are currently “no conversations” between the city and company about extending ShotSpotter, Bunyard said.
It remains unclear how ShotSpotter will gradually stop functioning. A 60-day wind-down period that is part of the city’s amended agreement with the company “has not really been defined,” Bunyard said.
Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, said it is also not clear what other safety tools might fill the gap ShotSpotter leaves.
“I don’t know what the process has been for what we do next,” Vasquez said. “We still have to talk about what is next.”
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
