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ShotSpotter is the world leader in gunshot location and detection systems for the public safety and military markets. The company has been delivering patented, state-of-the-art gunshot location and detection solutions for more than a decade. Every day, officials in more than a dozen cities rely on ShotSpotter systems, with each and every customer a willing reference to our capabilities and results. ShotSpotter systems are the only ones police rely on in major cities such as Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA and Oakland, CA. And our systems are the only ones that have not only produced countless arrests but have also regularly saved lives (two in one month in Washington DC alone). Already the acknowledged leader in urban gunshot location for law enforcement, the company’s customers include Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice, US Joint Forces Command, US Air Force and the US Army.
Company History
The idea for ShotSpotter was conceived in the early 1990s by Dr. Robert Showen, then a senior scientist at SRI International in Menlo Park, CA and now Chief Scientist at ShotSpotter. Dr. Showen wanted to find a way to do real-time gunshot detection as an aid to law enforcement. At roughly the same time, scientists, at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1992, found that they were able to locate the sound of gunfire by running acoustic data through the same software designed to locate earthquakes, although at the time no sensor platform existed to collect the necessary acoustic data. Upon learning of the USGS results, Dr. Showen determined that a sensor platform and law enforcement-friendly software could be developed to detect gunfire and assist government and public safety agencies. Thus, in 1994, Dr. Showen founded ShotSpotter with the purpose of developing this very technology.
ShotSpotter installed the nation's first gunshot location system in Redwood City, CA in late 1995. The system quickly proved indispensable, and gunfire rates dropped as a result. "ShotSpotter has assisted the Redwood City Police Department in dramatically reducing celebratory and random gunfire," Redwood City Chief of Police Carlos Bolanos commented at the time. The Redwood City Police Department credits the ShotSpotter technology with enabling them “to prevent gunfire crimes, deaths and serious injuries from occurring.”
In 1997, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) conducted an independent test of ShotSpotter and found the system to be both accurate and effective, reporting that “the ShotSpotter [Gunshot Location System] accurately detected 80% of test fire incidents inside the one square-mile coverage are to within 40 feet.” In 1998, the US Patent & Trademark Office granted the company's first patent (#5,973,998), covering the core ShotSpotter technology. Subsequent installations are protecting citizens in Los Angeles, CA; Glendale, AZ; Rochester, NY; Minneapolis, MN; Oakland, CA; Birmingham, AL; Gary, IN and Washington, DC.
In 2005, ShotSpotter acquired Atlanta-based Centurist Systems, the industry-revolutionizing developer of the only individual-worn gunshot location sensors in the world. Individual-worn sensors as well as vehicle- and installation-mounted sensors now constitute an important aspect of ShotSpotter’s technology offerings to the US Department of Defense and the military services of friendly nations. In two short years, US Joint Forces Command, US Air Force, the US Army and others have begun to adopt ShotSpotter technology for battlefield use.
Today, the company has been awarded several patents and has many others pending.Its systems are deployed in cities across the nation, from Los Angeles, CA to Charleston, SC; from a suburb of Phoenix, AZ to Rochester, NY. And US combat soldiers have begun to rely on ShotSpotter to help them track their own forces and locate enemies in real time across the twenty-first century battlefield.
Mission
Gunfire continues to be the single leading cause of crime-related death in the United States and the second leading cause of death to Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence estimates that more than 80 Americans die each day from gun violence, the vast majority of it illegal and non-accidental. While the rate of homicides in the United States has stayed roughly constant (at approximately an annual 14,000) over the past five years, gunfire and other causes of death detectable by ShotSpotter have increased from 150% of other causes in 2001 to 210% of other causes in 2005.
ShotSpotter's mission is to help communities reduce illegal gunfire and thereby increase community safety, and to help our armed forces identify and react to enemy fire with unprecedented speed and efficiency. With the help of ShotSpotter solutions, police and other public safety officials are better equipped to quickly locate and analyze the source of gunfire, saving time and money, and protecting the safety of the community. Similarly, amid the reality of modern’day warfare which our armed forces face daily, troops gain crucial intelligence and can respond more quickly and accurately thanks to ShotSpotter.
Future
After years of success marketing its products exclusively within the public safety market, ShotSpotter today is broadening its horizons. The next generation of rapid deployment solutions will help both public safety and homeland security agencies respond quickly to the rapidly changing threats facing the world today. In addition, ShotSpotter’s urban gunshot detection solutions for the military provide the same proven gunshot detection and location technology in a ruggedized system designed for the harsh realities of modern combat conditions. And, of course, ShotSpotter will continue to provide cities across the nation with industry-leading gunshot detection and location systems as they have for the past decade. |
