NYPD ShotSpotter Program Expands To Fort Greene

The NYPD has announced that its ShotSpotter program, a technology that detects gunfire and alerts police, will expand to Fort Greene by the end of summer, AM New York reports.

“It’s contributed to faster response times to 911 calls or to incidents of shots fired,” said Jessica Tisch, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology. “We know about more shots fired incidents in the city because of ShotSpotter,” she added.

ShotSpotter launched as a pilot program in 2015 in “violence-prone” areas in Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to DNA Info. Approximately 60 sensors are installed in three-square-mile increments of select neighborhoods, states AM New York.

ShotSpotter audio sensors are installed onto street poles, buildings, and rooftops to detect the sound of gunfire in neighborhoods, DNA Info says. When gunshots are detected, the sensors send alerts to the local police precincts.

According to Tisch, so far this year the technology has been activated 1,740 times, AM New York reports. The program has a five-percent false reporting rate.

ShotSpotter is currently installed across 54 square miles in neighborhoods across the city. By summer’s end, Fort Greene and Washington Heights will be added— expanding coverage to 60 square miles, according to AM New York.

With an estimated $4.5 million in operational costs for 2017, the program will add another nine square miles by the end of the year, expanding to areas in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, says AM New York.