ShotSpotter To Blanket East Palo Alto
Posted: Friday, 14 November 2008 8:34AM
Copyright 2008, KCBS. All Rights Reserved.
EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (KCBS) -- A pilot program using sensors that track gun fire has been so successful that shot spotters are being installed throughout East Palo Alto under a grant from the Justice Department.
Within half an hour of the city's first shot spotters going online last New Year's Eve, police said they confiscated three firearms from one address.
"It's played a major role in the reduction of gun violence," said Capt. John Chalmers.
The city has seen crime fall by 20 percent overall. There have been only three homicides so far in 2008, a far cry from the 42 recorded in 1992.
The sensors relay data to county dispatchers who then triangulate the readings. The dispatchers often contact local police with a specific address where gunfire may have originated before any 911 calls are received.
East Palo Alto will be the first community in the country to install the sensors on a citywide basis.
(jro)
Erin Lopez |
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