March 2009, 1:43am - A gunshot cuts through a late night in the northeast.

Within seconds, ShotSpotter GLS classifies the incident as a single gunshot. Shortly thereafter, incident location and audio data are sent to the police command center via the ShotSpotter PSC software. Dispatcher reviews the incident data and dispatches officers to a known crime hot spot in the south end of town.

Upon arrival, police observed three men walking in front of the incident address. Police approached one of the men who was walking alone with his hand inside his jacket pocket. After stopping the man, police discovered that he was carrying a semiautomatic handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest. The gun was still warm from being fired. A second man was observed throwing a handgun into the snow. That man was also arrested and found to be wearing a bulletproof vest.

Local police commented that these men were possibly testing weapons prior to committing a more serious crime.

About the Success of the Month

Each month we feature an incident where a customer’s ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System played an integral role in removing a threat from our streets. The ShotSpotter GLS provides law enforcement with near real-time alerts, aggregated intelligence data, and forensic data that regularly lead to a successful arrests, weapons confiscations and prosecutions. Please note that some incident details have been altered to preserve both customer and public privacy.