Shot Spotter helping to tackle crime in Cambridge faster
CAMBRIDGE, Md. – The city of Cambridge hopes new technology will help them tackle crime a little bit faster.
The new tech is Shot Spotter. It makes it easier to get to a potential crime scene when every second counts which could be someone’s life on the line.
Cambridge Police, the first to install the technology on the Eastern Shore hoping to cut down on police response time, “It’s sensors placed all around the city, within a mile radius and they’re able to sense gunfire and when that gunfire goes off it’s reported to the police through our phones and also our in-car computers and also our 911 centers,” says Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd.
In place since December, Police Chief Justin Todd says the system is a success. “We had 46 shooting incidents through shot spotters 18 of those were verified gunfire, meaning we were able to respond to the scene and once there we located some type of evidence,” says Chief Todd.
Chief Todd says 5 of those incidents led to an arrest or search. Shot Spotter, powerful software City Manager Tom Carrol says it is part of a larger initiative. “It’s really part of a multi-prong strategy to improve public safety throughout the community. We’re putting in 100 cameras in various other locations around town,” says City Manager Tom Carrol.
With this technology, law enforcement can respond faster, and taking it one step further, it can provide necessary evidence in the courtroom. “That audio is also used for court, it’s admissible in court we’ve written search warrants on the information received from Shot Spotter,” says Chief Todd.
With safety a number one priority, officials agree Cambridge isn’t the place to get away with crime. “If you’re going to come into the city of Cambridge and fire a gun and commit a crime then every time you do that you’re leaving us some evidence and fingerprints such as shell casings you’re going to lead us back to you,” says Chief Todd.
Technology isn’t perfect, so when Shot Spotter inaccurately identifies gunfire police are able to teach it what is the correct sound. Also, City Manager Tom Carrol says the cameras will be installed in public areas for public safety monitoring.
