Columbus City Council expanded its $3.5 million ShotSpotter program into the Wedgewood Village Apartments area, where 13-year-old Sinzae Reed was shot and killed by a neighbor in October.
The city started funding the gunfire sensor network in 2018, without a competitive bidding process. It was first placed in the Hilltop, Linden and Southside areas, and then was expanded to the Near East Side in 2021, after council expanded and extended the contract with ShotSpotter several times.
The city spent $685,000 with the company in 2019, $1.388 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year, and $630,000 in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
The latest expansion passed this week increases the 12-sqare-mile coverage area by .64 of a mile, for an additional cost of $44,000. The ordinance includes a three-year contract extension, dependent on funding from council.
City resident Jillian Dyer raised concerns that too much of the city’s budget already goes to policing. "They already have a bigger budget than education, housing, parks, traffic management and climate initiatives combined, all things that could actually help improve public safety," Dyer said. "It's frustrating for a lot of people to be told that there's no money for other public safety initiatives, like safe infrastructure, schools and housing when the police have such a large budget."
Dyer said studies have shown that the technology increases police presence, without increasing safety or reducing violence.
"Gunshot-detection technology leads to a substantial increase in shots fired calls, but does not lead to more actionable evidence," Dyer said, referring to a study in St. Louis. "So we have more police responding to more incidents, but they can't do anything about them. They're also arriving already on edge and suspicious, which can and has been shown to increase violent behavior or fearful behavior from the police and to regard anybody on the scene as a potential suspect."
Dyer said the technology can also be used to eavesdrop on conversations held around the sensors.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin asked Deputy Director of Public Safety Tim Williams if Columbus is using the technology for that purpose.
"Do we listen to people's conversations with ShotSpotter? I think it's a fair question that would concern folks, if that's what we were doing. And I'm assuming the answer is no?" Hardin asked. Williams did not have an answer for Hardin, but said he would follow up.
A statement from the Department of Public Safety says the sensors are designed only to detect "loud, impulsive sounds." The statement says an independent audit conducted by the New York University Policing Project concluded that the risk of voice surveillance is "extremely low."
Hardin said he's heard support for the gun-shot detecting sensors out in the community.
"In my conversations with community members, this has been something that folks have advocated for in certain areas," he said.
Zerqa Abid, founder of MY Project USA, said she has worked in the Wedgewood community since 2015 and she is "very much in favor" of shot spotters because they improve the feeling of security in a neighborhood experiencing violence.
"This is part of a comprehensive plan to combat violent crime in the Wedgwood Village complex, which also includes additional patrols and cameras," Williams said.
When the system detects gunfire, it sends a notification with location information directly to neighborhood patrol officers.
"The technology allows officers to respond to gunfire, sometimes before 911 is called, and even without calls to 911, Williams said. "It's enabled officers to locate victims and render aid more quickly. And it helps us to get violent offenders off the street."
The officers collect shell casings at the scene to be analyzed and put into a federal database, Williams said.
"What this allows for is the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms," Williams said. "We've been able to identify violent offenders through this and also connect multiple cases where the same firearm is used."
