Acoustic detectionKansas City to deploy ShotSpotter technology

Rapid police response to a shots-fired report can often make the difference in saving a shooting victim’s life, or in capturing the shooter.

With that end in mind, Kansas City police and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority have agreed jointly to deploy the Shot Spotter, an acoustic technology that provides detailed information on gunshots fired.

Contributing to the problem Kansas City police face is that gunshots are so frequent that only about 20 percent of shots-fired reports are even called in.

Dozens of cities around the world have deployed the ShotSpotter system, but the Kansas City effort is believed to be the first joint project by a police department and transit officials.

Kansas City police chief Darryl Forte discussed the proposal with the Board of Police Commissioners, which approved the project. The following day, The KCATA approved the plans, funding it for five years with $720,000 left over from a previous ATA project. Although the funding is for five years, the system offers flexibility for future deployments.

The system uses multiple sensors to pick up the sound of gunfire and pinpoint its location. The information is fed to the operations center of California-based SST Inc., the company which developed and markets the system. SST acoustic experts assess the information to determine whether a sound’s source is something like a car backfiring or fireworks. When the sound is verified as a probable gunshot, a report is passed to that area’s 911 operators or even directly to officers in patrol cars. According to SST, officers receive a shots-fired notification within twenty-five seconds of the event.

The exact number of sensors to be deployed is yet to be determined, and their location is considered as classified, so as not to alert potential shooters.

Police, transit officials, and SST will work together to determine the best placement for the sensors.