this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Here Are the Secret Locations of ShotSpotter Gunfire Sensors (www.wired.com)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 29 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

The only problem ShotSpotter solves is not enough public money into private hands. What information does it actually give the police, even assuming that it is 100% accurate?
At a certain time and place a gun was fired. Great? Who cares. That isn't worth $1million/mo.
If there are 3 people in the general location and time that a gun was fired, what has shotspotter done to help?

Fortunately Chicago is getting rid of this finally. https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2024/02/22/shotspotter-contract-cost-mayor-brandon-johnson-cancel-extension-summer

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And, it gives cops another excuse to overpolice Black and brown neighborhoods.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

People usually call in shots fired. So all they've done is create an expensive device that maybe tells them a bit sooner than a concerned citizen.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is where I disagree. I think a transparent, publicly run system to triangulate gunshots is actually a great idea. As long as the microphones are placed evenly throughout a city, they can instantly let police know where and when a gunshot happened.

However, with no way to publicly verify the fairness of the a private system, there's only one way this could go.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Doesn't triangulation get fucked up by the presence of buildings? I don't imagine these give much more precision, even in the ideal situation you describe.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I imagine that theoretically you could have algorithms or machine learning to calibrate this. Like make test sounds so you see how the sound diffuses and then filter it out.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Maybe I missed it but the article actually does not tell/show you where these secret locations are. A red dot on a map that doesn't zoom in well enough is kinda useless.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

https://0.jaegers.net/?966fe7e5869f728e#6dzfJbegSNHvhWEjrbBexiizB1cS4XTaJWhdpET8fKVU

Article tells you it all.... if you know where to go! (was just sitting in the JS)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Document expires in 5 days (March 1st)!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I kept the default expiration.

The data there is what was in the JS. I just pulled it out and ran it through a formatting tool so it can be consumed more easily by humans.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

This entry... { "lat": "-9999", "lon": "-9999", "metadata": [ "WorcesterMA", "" ] },

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Muricans do everything but forbid guns