When running for mayor in 2023, Brandon Johnson solemnly promised to end the racist "Shotspotter" program. Shotspotter is an audio listening technology that detects loud reports of gunfire and is able to determine where the shot came from.
By all measures, the program is a success. But black activists complain it's racist because the detectors are only in black and other minority neighborhoods.
During the first eight months of 2024, Chicago police arrested hundreds of people and recovered hundreds of guns and nearly 30,000 shell casings in part because of alerts from their ShotSpotter gun-shot detection system, which far-left mayor Brandon Johnson intends to begin phasing out in just over a week.
Police also responded significantly faster to ShotSpotter alerts than 911 calls, according to a Chicago Police Department report released this week that provides a new analysis of ShotSpotter data from January 1 through August 31.
"Victims, survivors, their families, and the communities with the highest rates of gun violence deserve more tangible support, resources, and solutions that have been foregone due to investments in policing and technology that do not prevent or reduce this violence," said anti-Shotspotter activist Nathan Palmer with the ShotSpotter Coalition.
Johnson ended the contract for Shotspotter in February. Despite overwhelming support for the program in city hall, Johsnon is sticking to his promise (one of the few that he's kept) and will shut the program down at the end of this month.
Curiously, Johnson appeared to be wavering in that decision. The contract for Shotspotter was renewed in June. When that news came out, Johnson attributed the renewal to an "automatic signature device." This was after Shotspotter had launched an aggressive lobbying campaign to keep it.
Local media sniffed out the fact that Johnson was about to flip-flop on the issue and Johnson immediately backtracked,
Saying Johnson has the spine of a jellyfish is insulting jellyfish.
Johnson will decommission Shotspotter detectors on September 22. Alderwoman Monique Scott called September 22 “doomsday” for the city.
“We’re basically going to play Russian roulette with our constituents’ lives,” she said.
The activists who claim that Shotspotter doesn't prevent any crimes or save any lives are partially correct. But getting criminals off the street who have no hesitation in using guns is a boon to law enforcement and needs to continue.
During the first eight months of the year, ShotSpotter alerted police to 29,829 gunshot events in the wards where it is operating, 73 percent of which had no corresponding 911 call, the Chicago police report says.
Police made 451 arrests tied to ShotSpotter alerts, and 20 percent of the cases, or about 90, had no corresponding 911 call, the report says. Similarly, ShotSpotter alerts led to the recovery of 470 guns, and 19 percent, or about 90, were recovered without a 911 call. Police also recovered 29,214 bullet shells, of which about 5,000 were found without a call.
Police were also able to render aid to 143 shooting victims after receiving ShotSpotter alerts, but only seven of those people received aid without a corresponding 911 call, the report says.
Plans are afoot to allow the police superintendent to enter into a new ShotSpotter contract, bypassing the mayor's office. Alderman David Moore insists that department heads “have a right” to sign their own contracts.
“It gives the ability for CPD to enter into a contract with ShotSpotter,” he said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “The mayor does not have to procure it.”
The activists are upset that white folk are not subject to this sort of passive surveillance. The reason for that, says Hot Air's Jazz Shaw, is self-evident.
The reason that Shotspotter sensors are deployed where they are in Chicago boils down entirely to local crime statistics. The sensors are deployed in the areas with the highest volume of firearms discharges. Unfortunately, that typically means that they will wind up in lower-income communities with primarily Black and Hispanic residents. It's not racist to point out that unfortunate reality. Chicago has a long way to go in terms of cleaning up the streets and bringing down crime rates, but that job -assuming it's even possible at this point - will be made all the harder if ShotSpotter is removed. Mayor Johnson should set political correctness aside here and concentrate on what will keep the residents of his city safe.
Johnson can't put political correctness aside. His candidacy, election, and entire term in office have been marked by political correctness. He can no more drop political correctness than he can stop breathing.
Farewell, Shotspotter — a casualty of radical left politics.
