(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Some activists are demanding Mayor Brandon Johnson keep his campaign promise not to renew the city's ShotSpotter contract when it expires early next year.
The gunshot-detection technology costs $9 million annually, and Nathan Palmer of the StopShotSpotter campaign says the system is skewed against minority communities.
"ShotSpotter uses historical crime data that is given to them by the Chicago Police, which we know is racist, to determine where they are going to put their microphones," he said.
That leads to unwarranted "stop and frisk" encounters, Palmer said.
Michael Williams says he was a victim of the technology. He said he was locked up at the age of 64 for 11 months, based on ShotSpotter information.
"The initial evidence against me was nothing more than audio recorded from ShotSpotter," he said.
The charges were eventually dropped, Williams said.
The city's Inspector General issued a report two years ago that found the technology rarely leads to evidence of a gun crime.
SoundThinking, owners of the ShotSpotter technology, provided the following statement to WBBM:
"SoundThinking has served as a critical partner to Chicago residents and the Chicago Police Department in their efforts to address gun violence and save lives. We are immensely proud of the work we've done with the city. ShotSpotter provides exceptional service to first responders, allowing them to deliver swift aid to victims, better serve their communities, and improve public safety," SoundThinking CEO Ralph Clark wrote. "The Chicago Police Department has consistently described ShotSpotter as a critical part of how they respond to and solve crimes, even crediting alerts with helping to save at least 125 lives. We will remain committed to assisting first responders in Chicago and over 160 cities responding rapidly to gunfire, helping them to collect critical evidence and providing life-saving care to gun violence victims.
"We're also incredibly excited about exploring the application of our Data for Good initiative in Chicago, which helps increase the impact of community involvement in our collective violence prevention efforts."
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