CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The city’s watchdog issued a report Tuesday that found ShotSpotter technology used by Chicago police rarely leads to investigatory stops or evidence of gun crimes and can change the way officers interact with areas they’re charged with patrolling.
The city’s Office of the Inspector General found that CPD data it examined “does not support a conclusion that ShotSpotter is an effective tool in developing evidence of a gun-related crime.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Supt. David Brown have continued to publicly support the department’s use of the technology.
“If the Department is to continue to invest in technology which sends CPD members into potentially dangerous situations with little information — and about which there are important community concerns — it should be able to demonstrate the benefit of its use in combating violent crime,” Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety Deborah Witzburg said.
The city’s three-year, $33 million contract with the Silicon Valley-based startup was initially supposed to expire last Thursday. But the deal was extended last December for two additional years at the request of the police department.
The CPD’s use of ShotSpotter came under increased scrutiny following the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed in March by a Chicago police officer responding to an alert from the system. Toledo’s hands were empty when the fatal shot was fired, though he was seen on the officer’s body-worn camera holding a pistol a moment earlier.
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