ShotSpotter, the provider of gunshot detection solutions that help law enforcement officers and security personnel identify, locate and deter gun violence, announced results of their annual ShotSpotter National Gunfire Index (NGI) report, a gunfire incident report based on 87 U.S. cities using ShotSpotter technology during 2017.
Many medium and large-sized cities where ShotSpotter is deployed across the U.S. saw a measurable reduction in gunfire ranging from 6 to 34 percent for 2017 vs 2016, including: (in alphabetical order) Denver, CO; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA; Riviera Beach, FL; San Francisco, CA; Savannah, GA; Washington D.C., and Worcester, MA.
The single busiest day of reported gunfire was June 22, 2017 in a midwest city with 75 incidentsReduced gunfire incidents
The ShotSpotter 2017 National Gunfire Index report is based on data from U.S. cities that used ShotSpotter during the same time period year-over-year in 2016 and 2017. Overall, the western region of the U.S. saw the most significant decrease in gunfire activity.
The single busiest day of reported gunfire was June 22, 2017 in a midwest city with 75 incidents – down significantly from the busiest day of gunfire in 2016 that topped out with 339 incidents on October 23, 2016. The ShotSpotter National Gunfire Index found the busiest hour for gunfire in 2017 for any one city was on November 6 from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm, with 35 gunfire incidents.
The ShotSpotter National Gunfire Index also revealed that incidents with single rounds were on the rise during 2017 and a trend towards a longer ‘weekend’ with increased activity on Mondays, as well as the traditional spike in gunfire seen during the period of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Other key findings include:
Gunfire by night of the week – a longer ‘weekend’ period emerges:
- The total number of incidents per day reported by ShotSpotter rose 10% on Monday compared to 2% Tuesday through Friday.
- Monday edged out Thursday to become the fourth busiest night after (in order of total gunfire incidents reported) Saturday, Friday, and Sunday
Average number of rounds per reported incident was mostly steady, except for the West and Caribbean where total incidents remain the highest, but dropped considerably year over year.
- Northeast 3.3 rounds per incident (2016, 3.3)
- Midwest 3.5 rounds per incident (2016, 3.6)
- South 3.7 rounds per incident (2016, 3.7)
- West 3.9 rounds per incident (2016, 4.4)
- Caribbean (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) 4.7 rounds per incident (2016, 6.3)
Cities in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico are not counted in gunfire rate calculations or comparisons because of long-term power outages at the end of 2017 caused by Hurricane Maria. Data from these cities are counted in other calculations, such as the number of rounds per incident, percent gunfire by hour of day, etc., and is derived from the coverage period of January 1 to September 5, 2017.
Our officers depend on ShotSpotter to manage resources, identify patterns of crime and thoroughly investigate each shooting incident"
ShotSpotter’s role in reducing gun violence
Rate of gunfire incidents by region – when looking at gunfire incidents by geographic region, the Northeast has the lowest number of gunfire and the Midwest has the highest number of gunfire incidents. Gunfire incidents peak between 10PM-12 midnight – the number of gunfire incidents by hour of day peaks at 10PM-11PM followed by 11PM-12 midnight and starts declining at midnight. The lowest number of gunfire incident hours are generally the 6AM-10AM range.
“ShotSpotter has proven to be a valuable tool to help improve our performance in reducing gun violence,” said Worcester, MA, Police Chief Steven M. Sargent. “Our officers depend on ShotSpotter to manage resources, identify patterns of crime and thoroughly investigate each shooting incident. As a result, we have seen measurable results and Worcester remains one of the safest cities of its size in the northeast.”
Acoustic sensing capability
“Our annual ShotSpotter gunfire index provides important data that shines a light on gun violence trends that can empower law enforcement to make strategic decisions based on that knowledge,” said ShotSpotter President and CEO Ralph Clark.
“While there is still much to be done to make our cities safer, by working closely with law enforcement across the country we are seeing large reductions in gunfire as the combination of technology, community engagement and new policing practices make a positive impact.”Through its acoustic sensing capability and enterprise-grade software, ShotSpotter can detect and locate gunfire in near real time
ShotSpotter, is used in more than 87 cities across the country to help law enforcement agencies reduce gun violence. Through its acoustic sensing capability and enterprise-grade software, ShotSpotter can detect and locate gunfire in near real time.
Alerts are then broadcast to 911 dispatch centres, patrol cars and even smartphones, with the location, number of rounds fired, and approximate number of shooters, to law enforcement and public safety officials. These alerts help enable first responders to get to the gunfire location quickly and aid victims, collect evidence and apprehend offenders.
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