ShotSpotter for York gets $200,000
By ANGIE MASON
Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Last Updated: 08/25/2008 02:15:50 PM EDT
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter watched today as York City Police Lt. Kevin Girling demonstrated how the city's gunshot detection system works.
At computers displaying a map of the city and views from surveillance cameras, Girling played a sound recorded shortly before 3 a.m.
Voices could be heard before a shot rang out. When police responded to the place ShotSpotter indicated, he said later, they arrested two men.
Specter said the ShotSpotter system was impressive.
"When I was the district attorney in Philadelphia, we didn't have all these cameras," he said.
The system will get a $200,000 boost from the federal government, Specter said at a news conference. The money is included in the funding bill of the Senate Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, which Specter serves on.
"The crime problem is enormous," he said. "The problem with guns is enormous."
Specter hopes the system and the connected cameras will deter criminals.
"We want to put them on notice that they're being photographed," he said.
York Mayor John Brenner said he wants to use the money to pay for the $650,000 system.
Last year, the York City Council agreed to begin leasing the system with city money rather than wait for other funding. But Brenner said he'd continue looking for other ways to pay for it.
"This would be a big step in the right direction," he said. But, the city is still working with federal officials to determine if the money can be used that way or must be used to expand the system, he said.
York City Police Commissioner Mark Whitman said today's arrests were a result of the ShotSpotter and quick response from police.
"We were able to take a gun off the street," he said.
Girling said the ShotSpotter reported one shot in the 400 block of West King Street, and police arrived and detained two men there. Police did not locate a victim and believe no one was injured, he said.
Lamar Allen, 26, was arrested for outstanding warrants, he said.
Morris Hall, 23, was arrested for having a gun without a permit, Girling said. Police do not know if that gun fired the shot the ShotSpotter recorded, he said.
JULY NUMBERS
The ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system recorded the following in July:
Gunshots: 157
Fireworks: 4,463
Other noises: 167
The date with the highest number of gunshots:
July 5 - 42
The date with the highest number of firecrackers:
July 4 -1,339
Days without gunfire: 3
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