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Last month, gunshot detection technology provider ShotSpotter changed its name to SoundThinking.
The company hopes to showcase its new, more diverse products, which it says can help police search and manage vast amounts of data. “As the public safety situation evolves, so do we,” Chief Executive Ralph Clarke said in a statement. Press release Regarding the name change.
It’s a familiar script for companies marketing to the criminal justice system. CoreCivic, which operates prisons and immigration detention facilities under government contract, was once the US Corrections Corporation. Now, the company bills itself as a “Government Solutions Company” whose “About page The word “prison” was not mentioned. In 2017, Taser International changed its name to Axon, from a name referencing a stun gun to one that alludes to the company’s body camera business. At the time, CEO Rick Smith told Reuters the Axon brand was “less polarizing.”
ShotSpotter changed its name in April, shortly after the company’s stock listing lost about a third of its value Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was elected.Johnson promised to end the city’s deal with the company as part of his public safety plan. contract, One of SoundThinking’s largest companies, Bring in $8 million in revenue Every year, according to the company. Last fall, outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot extend the contract Enter 2024.
The company said its gunshot detection system uses acoustic sensors to locate possible gunshots. An algorithm categorizes the type of sound, and company personnel review the audio before sending an alert to the police.
current in chicago contract for ShotSpotter started in 2018 and has draw continuous criticism. City Inspector General 2021 set up In about 90 percent of incidents where police responded to ShotSpotter alerts, officers did not classify them as gun crimes.Last summer, a lawsuit against the city said police arrested two men, primarily “Unreliable” alerts based on ShotSpotter. The complaint alleges that one of the men Spent months in jail before his case was dismissedThe lawsuit, which does not name ShotSpotter as a defendant, seeks class-action status for city residents who have been blocked based on the company’s technology.
Chicago police credit ShotSpotter detection for officers’ quicker response to shootings, and officials elsewhere who supports the system pointing to where the incident occurred Alert leads them to shooting victimThe company told The Associated Press last year that the evidence it collected and its expert witnesses have been admitted in 200 court cases in 20 states and have withstood dozens of evidentiary challenges. Some community members are also open to any tool that promises to help reduce persistent gun violence.
The technology has also faced controversy in other cities.In Seattle, a city council member cited Chicago inspector general’s report Decided not to fund ShotSpotter there. Community Organizations in San Diego Have Postponed . City use of the system and advocate regulations That Strengthen supervision Gunshot detectors and other technologies such as cameras, facial recognition and license plate readers.In Houston, the city council voted to pay for ShotSpotter after funding chaos, but organizer question Whether the technology is the best use of public resources.
Even as cities like Seattle are exiting ShotSpotter, more and more places have adopted the technology.In its annual report, the company said it had customers in 88 cities end of 2017 and more than 151 cities at the end of last year. Earlier this month in Long Island, New York, Suffolk holds community meeting Even after canceling the technology in 2019, it will launch the technology earlier.This week, the mayor of Cleveland announced that the city will Expands ShotSpotter to all its police districts.
In many cases, SoundThinking’s recent growth has been fueled by funding from the American Rescue Package Act, a pandemic-relief economic stimulus package passed in 2021. Syracuse, New York; Macon-Bieber County, Georgia; and Toledo, Ohio all used funds classified as ShotSpotter community violence interventions.company Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to use funds for ShotSpotter.
Other cities have spent pandemic relief funds on technologies that could offer opportunities for companies like SoundThinking. st. louis and Mesa, Arizona Use rescue operation funds for live crime hubs. SoundThinking touts its ability to integrate ShotSpotter alerts into these types of hubs, and the way its software products can be used to manage the data police collect and make decisions.
The Police Foundation helps departments pay for technology like gunshot detection in the absence of federal funding or funding from local budgets.Chicago Police Foundation Paying for cell phones lets police receive ShotSpotter alerts. Such foundations also Helped pay for initial installation of technology in Atlanta and Cleveland.