Have a happy and safe holiday season. Best wishes from all of us at ShotSpotter!
Happy Holidays!“Fire a shot, you’ll get caught!” - Free community outreach tools to prevent celebratory gunfire
I’ve never understood the allure of celebratory gunfire. First, let me state that I am a licensed handgun user and enjoy a bit of target practice from time to time. But never have I thought to pull out my .40 S&W handgun and fire it into the air in revelry. I understand that a bullet fired carelessly into the air inevitably returns to earth and can damage homes, injure people and pets, and in some cases, kill. Sadly, there are many people who do think that firing a gun into the air is an appropriate way to celebrate a holiday. In the years I’ve been with ShotSpotter, I’ve seen customers successfully drive down celebratory gunfire through a combination of community outreach and police tactics, including using the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System to track and locate New Year’s gunfire (click here to read our Gary, Indiana case study). As another New Year’s holiday approaches, we realized we were sitting on a trove of customer-generated ideas that could help all law enforcement agencies reduce the amount of illegal gunfire that traditionally accompanies the New Year’s Eve holiday. To add extra oomph to these ideas, ShotSpotter has created a variety of community relations materials your agency can use in your anti-celebratory gunfire campaigns. Please note that these tips and materials are merely suggestions and can be modified to suit your agency’s style and approach. Materials include: • Door hanger
We’re a staunch believer that good police work, good technology, and community outreach is the winning combination for tackling many of society’s ills. Some of the tactics listed below may be new to you. Others may come as no surprise. For me and for everyone else at ShotSpotter, what matters is that we work together to diminish the allure of illegal gunfire and make everyone’s New Year’s Eve safer. Tips to prevent celebratory gunfire • Review all ShotSpotter and other gunfire data from the previous year, and based on last year’s data, do targeted enforcement tactics including having teams in the area to respond to ShotSpotter GLS alerts as they happen • Send press releases about the campaign to all local media outlets informing them about your efforts to target celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve • Host a press conference with city leader’s to inform the public that patrols will be up on New Year’s Eve and officers will be out in force combating illegal gunfire • Recruit local faith leaders, civil and youth organizations to spread the word that celebratory gunfire is illegal and will not be tolerated • Mobilizing community adult and youth organizations, like the Police Explorers program, to go door-to-door and pass out door hangers and fliers alerting residents to the dangers of celebratory gunfire • Recruit concerned citizens and local businesses to display fliers and posters with facts about illegal gunfire in their windows • Contact local gun and ammunition dealers asking them to ban the sale of ammunition a week before the New Year’s Eve holiday • Approach local billboard companies to donate billboard space to display your anti-celebratory gunfire campaign slogan. Some good slogan’s we’ve heard include the Glendale, Arizona Police Department’s “Fire a shot, you’ll get caught,” and Richmond, California Police Department’s “No Shooting on New Year’s Eve.” • Create a public service announcement for the local television and radio stations to broadcast Click here to download a package of free campaign materials Happy holidays, everyone! Erin Lopez |
