Charleston Post & Courier

Monday, June 27, 2005 - Last Updated: 8:21 AM 

ShotSpotter an auditory witness

Gunfire-detection system often leads police to evidence

BY GLENN SMITH

Of The Post and Courier Staff

The ShotSpotter, a state-of-the-art system designed to detect gunfire, was supposed to help muzzle the violence on Charleston-area streets.

In large part, that hasn't happened. The number of shootings in the Holy City and North Charleston has remained fairly steady, with more than 300 gun-related assaults last year alone.

But police say ShotSpotter, installed two years ago, has arguably become their most reliable witness in shooting cases. By routing officers to gunfire as it happens, the system has helped police preserve evidence, make arrests and get firearms off the streets, they said.

"It's been like a silent citizen for us," said Cpl. Joyce Smith, ShotSpotter coordinator for North Charleston police. "It's helped us to determine the location of shootings when people in these neighborhoods have not been willing to get involved."

Capt. Gary Tillman, who oversees the system for Charleston police, said it is an excellent tool. "It's been right on the money in many of our cases."

ShotSpotter uses microphone stations to detect gunfire and then forwards the sound and location of the shots through phone lines to computers monitored by police dispatchers. ShotSpotter relies on a computer to calculate the shooter's position by triangulation, using the slight difference in time the shots were heard by each listening station. It can direct police to within 40 feet of where shots were fired.

Getting officers to the scene quickly improves chances for collecting shell casings, witness statements and other evidence, police say. It also helps police pinpoint the exact time a shooting occurred, how many shots were fired and which areas are having the most problems.

About a month ago, a shooting victim in Charleston told authorities he had been wounded at a housing complex on the west side of the city. With the help of ShotSpotter technicians, police determined the shooting actually occurred in the East Side neighborhood, Tillman said.

Tillman said the system also provided police with crucial evidence in a homicide this year, though he declined to discuss specifics.

Charleston and North Charleston have a year remaining on federal grants that pay for ShotSpotter. Both hope to win grant extensions in 2006. Otherwise, they will have to pick up the costs or mothball the system.

Grant money pays to station officers within the target zones to respond specifically to ShotSpotter calls. In all, the cities received about $745,000 as part of Project CeaseFire, a statewide initiative to curb gun violence.

About a dozen cities across the country have ShotSpotter, which was used last year in the high-profile hunt for a sniper who terrorized motorists around Columbus, Ohio. Charleston and North Charleston were chosen to receive the technology after both cities experienced a surge in shootings. In 2002, all but four of the cities' 30 homicide victims were killed by guns. That same year, 275 gun-related assaults were reported in the two cities.

Neither city has seen a substantial decrease in gun violence since that time. Gun-related assaults and armed robberies, for example, haven't shown much change or have increased at times. Both cities have experienced a decline in homicides, but so has the rest of region, mirroring national trends. The number of homicides nationwide declined by 3.6 percent last year, according to the FBI.

Police maintain that citywide statistics skew the picture by including areas not served by ShotSpotter. Similarly, statistics on gun-related assaults also capture offenses such as pistol-whipping, where a gun might not have been fired, they said.

Johnny Gasser, acting U.S. attorney for South Carolina, said it is impossible to tell how many shootings may have been prevented by ShotSpotter and increased police patrols funded by the grants. "How do you statistically gauge a negative?" he asked.

But those who live in some of the target neighborhoods, including North Charleston's Ferndale and Accabee communities and Charleston's East Side, say they have noticed a marked decline in nightly gunfire, an observation supported by some police statistics. North Charleston, for example, had 327 fewer ShotSpotter alerts for gunshots last year than it did in 2003, when 855 alerts were recorded.

Larenda Baxley, president of the Ferndale neighborhood association, used to hear gunfire three or four nights a week, but that has declined dramatically. "In my opinion, (ShotSpotter) has made a big difference," she said. "I think the word got out, and guys are scared to fire guns over here."

On a recent evening, Charleston Sgt. Sterling Dutton and Sgt. Brian Ambrose patrolled the city in separate cruisers, waiting for ShotSpotter calls. Though available to help other officers, most of their time was spent moving through target neighborhoods, maintaining a visible presence and watching for problems.

Along Nassau Street, where three homicides occurred in a two-block stretch last year, Dutton repeatedly shagged loitering groups of young men off a corner where drug deals and violence have gone hand in hand.

"You know the drill," he said on one pass, his voice firm behind a pleasant smile. "You don't need me to take you home to your mama, do you?"

The men chuckled and shuffled off.

A few months ago, a ShotSpotter call sent Dutton and another officer to Line and Nassau streets, where they found shell casings on the road. A short time later, other officers found the gun, a 38-caliber pistol, discarded on nearby South Street, Dutton said.

Since 2003, North Charleston police have made 18 arrests as a result of ShotSpotter: six during the initial response and 12 after follow-up investigations. Charleston police say the system hasn't led to an overwhelming number of arrests, though exact numbers are unavailable because the department doesn't track ShotSpotter arrests.

For Ambrose, the statistics don't matter as much as the end result. If ShotSpotter gets a few guns off the street, it's been a success, he said.

"That just reduces the chances of someone out here getting shot and hurt," he said.