Gunshot Detection Systems

1. Gunshot Detection Systems Shawn Brady, Ian Delisle, Stephen Lannan

2. Problem? • Gun Violence

3. How it works Where it is used Customers Cost

4. Goals • Reduce Illegal Gunfire • Increase Community Safety • Homeland Security • Identify Enemy Fire • Locate and Analyze Source • Protecting Community • Modern Day Warfare

5. Potential Issues • Local Law Enforcement use • Military use

6. Law Enforcement Potential Issue #1 • Cost • $200,000-$700,000 installation, another $30,000 for operations • It is expensive • How many police officers would it replace?

7. Law EnforcementPotential Issue #2 • Effectiveness • Don’t expect police to catch the shooters left and right red-handed. It is rarely the case • Gives the coordinates of where the shooting occurred and details about the shooting (Number of shots fired, type of weapon etc.) NOT who was shooting.

8. Law EnforcementPotential Issue #3 • Precision • Jim Tuffey from Albany says it is not as precise as Shot-Spotter suggests. • Other than suspicions, there is no documented cases of imprecise coordinates or information given by the technology • It is still a lot more precise than a 911 call from someone who heard a gun shot (if someone even calls).

9. Law EnforcementPotential Issue #4 • Privacy • A brief audio clip is taken following a loud noise (Gun shot, firecracker, explosion). • Can not pick up human voices. • On occasion it picks up that there is a human voice in the background after a loud noise, but NOT the words just that there is a person talking. • San Francisco's leaders have decided they're okay with invading the public's privacy via city crime cameras. So audio clip can’t be that bad.

10. Military Potential Issue #1 • Interference • With the amount of wireless technologies being used by the military right now it is plausible to see an flood the system. • Interfering with problem, soldiers other about location issue with interruptions if we communications would be a big need to be able to talk to each s and what they see.

11. Military Potential Issue #2 • Targets of attack • Once terrorists and enemy soldiers realize what we are using, they will seek out the sensors and destroy them. • Could be an extremely expensive blow to our military if one of the sensors is destroyed.

12. Solution/Response toMilitary issues • The sensors are not going to be placed in high density areas where fighting is going on. They don’t need to be there, due to the range that sound waves travel. • Triangulation is needed for the technology to work, so the sensors will be set up in areas that are restored and protected around the problem space.

13. Benefits • Quicker response time by police. • Victims can be found quicker and taken to hospital, it can save lives. • Also makes the response safer since the police know the details of the shooting • Eliminates problem of non-reporting. • Not everyone calls 911 due to fear • Not invasive of privacy. • Easy to use and install. • Effective • Widely accepted across the U.S. as well as some international cities • Detailed information on the shooting. • Number of shots, if they were in a car, kind of weapon etc.

14. Disadvantages • Cost. • Expensive, best to keep it in big cities. • The technology is not going to catch the shooters red-handed. • Exact coordinates can not be calculated, only an area can be determined. • No hand-held/portable device yet. • Still takes time for shot to get from sensors to database to officers. • Pushback from some police captains • Acceptance from the community

15. Future Vision There are merely two ideas for future innovation Military Universal

16. Military • Shot-Spotter is attempting to move from fixed microphone arrays in law enforcement settings to mobile arrays that can be deployed in military settings. • Will use mesh network communications, so that if any local arrays are destroyed the system still works, with graceful degradation. • Battle zones will turn gridified areas into inherently defensive rather than offensive zones. • First attempt will be Iraq • Second attempt will be Afghanistan

17. Will it work? • Some problems Shot Spotter scientists found are: • That this in a War-zone atmosphere may cause interference with signals of radio waves. • Many of the detectors may be targets for terrorists. • But they are not planning on the installation being in dense activity, but rather areas that have been restored and are now protected. • Shot spotter can detect small forms of resistance still in those communities, and the army can then return to assist.

18. Universal • The “Universal” vision shot spotter scientists are referring to is connecting sound to sight. • Here, they are working diligently to combine shot spotter sensors to satellites. • There a gunshot is detected, and a satellite can pick up the act actually happening and hope to help identify a suspect.

19. “Seconds Could Mean Lives” Law Enforcement • This could give a monumental advantage to law enforcement agencies. • Quick and clean apprehension of a suspect within a moment’s notice the identity could be revealed by satellite to the police. Military • The military could also use this in identifying terrorist leaders. • Satellites or other recent innovations such as the predator can be used to capture their identities wherever gunfire is prevalent.

20. Overall Hope • Shot Spotter is working. • It is implemented in over 48 U.S. Cities. • Boston and Brockton locally. • Merrimack valley PD’s are aware of the technology and if it was in their budget they would have it implemented. • Homeland Security needs to be addressed on a local level first, and shot spotter technology addresses those needs.

21. Company’s Future Vision • Implementation in every city in the United States • The number is growing daily, and as cost continues to drop it will be increasingly possible to install the technology.

22. Recommendations • Worth The Money? • Does Cost Outweigh Benefits? • Location of Gunfire • Technology • Reduction of Time • Accurately Detection • Enhance Problem-Solving