ShotSpotter and the Misfires of Gunshot Detection Technology

In this report, S.T.O.P. details how ShotSpotter’s error-prone software targets Black and Latinx neighborhoods, increasing the risk of police violence, and leaves levels of gun crime largely unchanged. The report highlights permit-to-purchase laws and policies against the right-to-carry as more impactful strategies to reduce firearm homicides.

Key Findings Include:

• U.S. cities are squandering money on ShotSpotter’s unproven gunshot surveillance technology, including millions of federal dollars allocated for pandemic relief;

• ShotSpotter increases police activity, but wastes officers’ time, with more than 90 percent of ShotSpotter deployments appearing to be useless;

• ShotSpotter sensors are disproportionately placed in Black and Latinx neighborhoods, compounding the over-policing of communities of color;

• ShotSpotter fails communities, increasing police activity and the risk of police violence without producing any significant effect on gun crime;

• U.S. cities must prioritize solving and reducing gun violence through proven gun control legislation, not inaccurate and costly gunshot detection technology.

We extend a special thanks to our external reviewers: Alyxandra Goodwin, Deputy Campaigns Director, Policing & Incarceration, ACRE; Ed Vogel, Lucy Parsons Labs member; and Jerome Greco, Digital Forensics Supervising Attorney, The Legal Aid Society.

This report was supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Foundations and by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Read the full report.