High-tech system gets police to the scene fast

When a 25-year-old woman was shot while walking to her mailbox in Phoenix last year, police officers were at her door to help even before she finished dialing 911.

The quick response - within seconds - came because a nearby sensor picked up the sound of the muzzle blast, pinpointed the shooter's location to within 10 feet and alerted police dispatchers of the address.

The abilities of the ShotSpotter were demonstrated Friday for Minneapolis police and government officials, who came away so impressed that they are eager to buy and install the system.

"I'm going to push for it to be included in the 2006 budget," said City Council Vice President Robert Lilligren, who estimated it would cost between $250,000 and $300,000.

The system is being used in more than a dozen cities, including Gary, Ind., and Los Angeles. It involves placing a series of sensors 1,500 feet apart, then linking them with surveillance cameras throughout the city. The sensors go on existing structures, such as buildings and telephone poles.

The ShotSpotter system is only triggered by gunfire and it can discern the type of weapon (rifle, shotgun or handgun) being used. The software in the sensors also commands the surveillance cameras to rotate and focus on the spot where the shot was fired.

The sensors are so sophisticated that they can trace the path and direction of drive-by shootings.

They also can tell the difference between cars backfiring and firecrackers, according to ShotSpotter officials. "We don't respond to anything that isn't a gun shot," said Scott Manderville, the company chairman, who oversaw Friday's demonstration.

Each year, Minneapolis police respond to more than 5,000 cases of shots fired. Each case usually involves dispatchers handling three or more calls. Also, three or four squad cars are usually dispatched because police do not initially know how serious the fired shots might be, said Deputy Chief Sharon Lubinski.

"We clearly need it," she said. "The benefits are obvious. I think it is a matter of us trying to find sufficient money. I think we already have a consensus between law enforcement and community people. We know the areas of the city where shots are fired."

As a security measure, Minneapolis officials won't say where the sensors will be placed. The program will start in south Minneapolis, although Council Member Gary Schiff says he wants north Minneapolis included.

Carrie Day-Aspinwall, the Minneapolis coordinator for the crime-prevention program Weed and Seed, thinks the new system will be a big boost to the city. "I think it will do a lot for the morale of the city to know that we are doing something," she said.

Cmdr. Doug Holtz of the St. Paul Police Department was sent to evaluate the system in case St. Paul decides to buy it.

"I was impressed with the technology," Holtz said. "The people we've talked to in other cities are happy with it."

That includes Gary, Ind., police, who on Wednesday arrested eight men and recovered two guns within minutes after ShotSpotter reported weapons fired near where the men were drinking and loitering.

"The system works well," said Latasha Hall of the Gary Police Department, which installed the system this year. "There has been a drop off in shots [being] fired."

ShotSpotter is manufactured to military specifications and company officials say the sensors are being shipped to Iraq.

In 2003, ShotSpotter placed 64 sensors on 90 miles of highways in Ohio. The sensors were used to provide the FBI with the first ballistic evidence against Charles McCoy Jr., who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges in the Ohio highway sniper case.

In North Charleston, S.C., police made several arrests the same night the system was being tested in 2003, including recovering a stolen gun before it was reported stolen. The thieves took the weapon and fired it a few minutes later, drawing the attention of ShotSpotter and police.

About the only drawback to the system, say company officials and law enforcement personnel, is that the sensors will only pick up gunshots outdoors. Also, strong winds and heavy rains might reduce the sensors' effectiveness.

"But it has to be a Noah's ark type of rain," Manderville said. "We lose sensors very infrequently. The only time we've lost sensors is a direct lightning strike. But it has to be a direct hit."

Herón Márquez Estrada . 651-298-1554