Mayor Johnson cancels controversial Chicago gunshot detection system
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson won't renew the city's controversial contract with ShotSpotter, making good his promise to end the gunshot detection system.
The contract will expire on Friday, and the city will stop using the technology on Sept. 22.
"Moving forward, the City of Chicago will deploy its resources on the most effective strategies and tactics proven to accelerate the current downward trend in violent crime," the city said in a statement.
The mayor said the city will now explore tools and programs that increase safety and trust.
Last week, a leaked internal report from Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's Office revealed that the system has "minimal return on investment" regarding holding shooters accountable.
The Cook County States Attorney's office's data reinforced concerns the CBS 2 Investigators have been reporting on for years.
According to the report, which the Cook County State's Attorney's office confirmed was an internal report produced this fall, only 1% of shooting incidents end in a ShotSpotter arrest. In comparison, 92% of shooting incidents are unrelated to ShotSpotter.
That means that ShotSpotter costs Chicago $217,368.42 for every person arrested in a ShotSpotter shooting incident.
From there, the report says most ShotSpotter arrests are for probationary crimes.
The Cook County Public Defender's Office also reviewed the report and said they've long had questions of reliability.
"Although we have been successful in litigating several cases involving ShotSpotter, we are unable to determine how many innocent people have been falsely accused at the hands of this technology," Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr.'s office said in a statement.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) said he was "very disappointed" in the decision and believes the city is taking a resource away from both police officers and from communities that rely on a quick police response.
"You're taking that tool away and relying on a 911 call. That 911 call may never happen," he said. "So how do you have a police response without that?"
A group of other aldermen and South Side residents who support the gun detection technology spoke against the mayor's decision at a news conference Tuesday. Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) noted that the city will stop using the technology right after the Democratic National Convention this summer.
"You want to wait until all the dignitaries come from around the country, then cancel shot spotter the month after they leave," said Beale. "When you put politics in front of public safety - politics in front of public safety - we have to draw the line."
"That was put there to protect us, and now you want to take it down?" said Debra Collins, who supports ShotSpotter.
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) said, "The only people against ShotSpotter are the organizers, the community organizers who want to use the money that saves Black and brown lives into their own pockets."
While police have applauded the technology, Chicago's $49 million contract with SoundThinking, the company behind ShotSpotter, has been in the crosshairs of community activists for years.
ShotSpotter in particular came under fire when the MacArthur Justice Center and the Chicago Office of the Inspector General published separate reports that revealed the vast majority of ShotSpotter deployments turn up no evidence, reportable incident, or crime.
"We've been fighting for this for the past three years," said Navi Heer of the Stop ShotSpotter Coalition.
Organizers with the Stop ShotSpotter Coalition pointed to high-profile incidents that started with a ShotSpotter alert and ended in tragedy.
One such incident happened in December 2018 – in which a ShotSpotter alert brought Chicago Police officers Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo to the train tracks near 101st Street and Dauphin Avenue.
In a freak accident, according to body camera footage, they moved out of the path of one train and right into the path of a South Shore locomotive coming up from behind. South Shore Line trains are electric, so they run quieter than many other trains.
An investigation later determined that a man was test-firing a gun that he had found in an alley.
A ShotSpotter detection also brought officers to an alley near 24th Street in Little Village early on March 29, 2021 – leading to the chase and shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
"All of this investment in policing and surveillance tech is not leading to the prevention of a reduction in gun crime overall," said Heer.
Critics like the leaders of the Stop ShotSpotter campaign have long argued the money should be better used to serve the community.
"Folks want to see investments in EMS services," said Nathan Palmer, with Stop ShotSpotter. "Folks want to see investments in mental health dispatch. Folks want to see investment in community violence intervention dispatch."
When Chicago's three-year, $33 million contract with ShotSpotter ended in 2021, the CBS 2 investigators discovered it had been quietly extended another two years for $9 million per year.
Then, last June, Johnson extended the contract for another year for another $10 million.
The Chicago Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SoundThinking chief executive officer Ralph Clark released this statement Wednesday:
"During our seven-year partnership, ShotSpotter has offered the City of Chicago a better way to quickly respond to criminal gunfire incidents to drive more efficient, effective, and equitable public safety outcomes. I want to reemphasize the importance of this technology and the positive impact it continues to make for the residents of Chicago. The most important measure of ShotSpotter's value is in lives saved. In the time that it has been deployed in Chicago, ShotSpotter has led police to locate hundreds of gunshot wound victims where there was no corresponding call to 911. Those are victims who most likely would not have received aid—if not for ShotSpotter.
"We are proud of the overwhelming support (82%1) across the City of Chicago for gunshot detection that helps victims receive aid more quickly. Further, we will never waiver in our commitment to the innovations that help save lives. We are extremely proud of the work we do and are grateful to serve the citizens and families of Chicago by helping to address the tragic plague of gun violence."
