See the livetweet thread here for context.
I’m Jon. My comments today focus on the $1 million for gunshot detection. Gun violence is a huge problem – but systems like ShotSpotter won’t help address it.
These systems don’t reduce crime. Instead, they waste police time and resources – and harm people in the communities they’re supposed to protect. In Chicago, police responding to a ShotSpotter alert shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo. Michael Williams and Daniel Ortiz were wrongfully arrested as a result of ShotSpotter. Just last week, Peoria police responding to a ShotSpotter alert shot and killed Samuel Richmond.
These systems don’t even help after the crimes have happened. Last year, the Chicago Office of the Inspector General’s investigation concluded Chicago Police Department’s data “does not support a conclusion that ShotSpotter is an effective tool in developing evidence of gun-related crime.”
Surveillance isn’t safety. Please don’t waste taxpayer money on this harmful pseudo-science technology. Instead, fund community-based responses to public safety and the other priorities of the Solidarity Budget.