Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vows to veto a City Council vote that would keep the city’s use of ShotSpotter technology as the company behind the program prepares to remove sensors around the city. NBC Chicago’s Bennett Haeberle reports.
CHICAGO – A day after Mayor Brandon Johnson indicated he would veto a council effort aimed at keeping ShotSpotter – the controversial gunshot detection technology – the device’s parent company, SoundThinking, said it would begin the process of removing some 2,000 sensors from across Chicago beginning on Monday.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the company said:
“We are gratified by the support of the many alderpeople and civic leaders across the city who recognize the undeniable fact that ShotSpotter saves lives. We are pleased with City Council’s decision yesterday and view their heart-felt testimony and resulting vote as a powerful message from the citizens of Chicago regarding the role and value of ShotSpotter across the Chicago neighborhoods that we serve today.
The mayor’s announced intention to veto the approved Ordinance leaves SoundThinking with a contract that imposes a September 22, 2024 service termination date. As a result, starting at midnight Sunday night, 9/23, SoundThinking will cease sending the Chicago Police Department ShotSpotter real-time gunshot alerts. Also on 9/23, SoundThinking will begin dismantling ShotSpotter infrastructure in Chicago coverage areas. During the subsequent 60-day Demobilization Period, SoundThinking will continue to work with CPD to ensure a smooth demobilization, including access to historical gun crime data and analytics tools.
With the overwhelming support of the City Council, we remain hopeful that a resolution to extend the lifesaving gunshot detection technology can be found.”
Earlier Thursday, Johnson was asked what he would do with the city funds that had been previously dedicated to ShotSpotter. He suggested that the city was interested in investing in other technology and communities he said had been historically underserved.
“We're open to technology, but it has to be technology that works. So, it's not just simply about redirecting (funds). It's about making sure that the people of Chicago are getting what they're what they deserve,” Johnson told reporters.
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Thursday’s remarks marked the third appearance this week where Johnson had criticized the technology, saying this on Monday:
“We’ve spent $100 million on what essentially is walkie-talkies on a stick,” Johnson said.
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The threat by Johnson to veto the City Council measure comes after the majority of aldermen voted 33-14 to strip Johnson of his power to decide if ShotSpotter stays or goes – and instead – place it in the hands of his chosen police chief – Superintendent Larry Snelling.
"The majority of the legislative branch wants to do this for the city, we need the mayor to go along with it," 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins said.
Johnson's counsel told reporters that the ordinance passed by City Council was illegal, adding that “it was a violation of Separation of Powers act. The legislative branch cannot compel the executive branch to act.”
But there is likely to be an attempt in council to override the veto, which could take 34 votes – one more than what council achieved to pass the measure Wednesday. And there is also the possibility that aldermen could present a legal challenge to the mayor’s office interpretation of the law.
An NBC 5 Investigates’ review on studies published on ShotSpotter show the reviews have been mixed.
An August 2021 study from the Chicago Office of Inspector General found that ShotSpotter “alerts rarely produce evidence of a gun-related crime, rarely give rise to investigatory stops and even less frequently lead to the recovery of gun crime-related evidence.”
Two months later, in October 2021, the Journal of Urban Health published a study that reviewed the impact ShotSpotter had on gun-related homicides, murder and weapons arrests in 68 metropolitan areas between 1999 and 2016. That study found “ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on firearm-related homicides or arrest outcomes. Policy solutions may represent a more cost-effective measure to reduce urban firearm violence,” the study read.
During a council committee hearing earlier this month, former CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson and a corporate vice president from SoundThinking spoke to aldermen about the technology – pointing to newly released data compiled with the help of Chicago police and the City’s Office of Emergency Operations and Communications that showed between January and August of this year – ShotSpotter detected 29,829 “alerts” which led to the recovery of 29,214 shell casings and 470 firearms recovered.
It did not provide a specific breakdown on how many gun shots were detected per “alert” or if the guns recovered were in close proximity to where the shots were detected.
The data also purported that ShotSpotter alerts led to faster response times than caller-only reports of gunfire.
In a post on its website, ShotSpotter’s parent company, Soundthinking, shared a separate 2024 study from Winston-Salem, North Carolina which alleged the acoustic gunshot technology alert “is significantly quicker” than 911 calls from residents and that “is related to a reduction in violent gun crimes.”
