Slightly delayed because of the pandemic, five additional Cincinnati neighborhoods will go online with ShotSpotter by the end of the summer.
Assistant Cincinnati Police Chief Paul Neudigate says Westwood, Fairmount, Millvale, Moosewood and Evanston are getting the technology that's able to pinpoint the exact location of gunfire and send it to police computers, a smartphone app and now emergency dispatchers.
ShotSpotter uses sensors on rooftops and street lights to listen for gunfire and notify police in 30-45 seconds. There are 20 sensors per square mile.
"So when there is an activation it immediately pops up on the dispatch screen as a Priority 1 run for immediate dispatch," he says.
Here's a video of how it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=JJSNQoIvvkY&feature=emb_logo
Recently, ShotSpotter went online in the West End, Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton neighborhoods. Neudigate says it came at a good time because there's been an uptick in shootings and homicides.
"ShotSpotter alerted us to a homicide the other night that we responded and found the deceased individual before anybody else reported it to us," Neudigate says.
Avondale was the first Cincinnati community to get ShotSpotter in 2017 and police reported gunfire was reduced 52%. Price Hill got it in 2019.
