Richmond Gunshot Detectors Lead Cops To 3 Cases
CBS 5 CrimeWatch
By ALLEN MARTIN
May 20, 2009
RICHMOND (CBS 5 / KCBS) ― The city of Richmond has begun using a new high-tech weapon to fight continuing violence and police indicated that they are already seeing results.
Police credited the installation of a ShotSpotter sensor system that detects gunshots with helping them pinpoint the location of three incidents of gunfire in the city this week.
The system on Tuesday successfully led to police to a home where officers found a sawed off AK-47, a semiautomatic pistol and a handgun.
Despite the gunfire detected by the sensors installed in the city's infamous Iron Triangle neighborhood, no one had been shot. Police decided to fingerprint the three guns and test them to see if they had been used in other crimes.
On Wednesday, police responded to two incidents of gunfire heard by the ShotSpotter sensors. A spokesman for the company noted gunfire sometimes goes unreported in some communities where shootings are more common.
Richmond spent $600,000 to install 16 sensors per square mile throughout the city. It's the fifth Bay Area city to use the sensors.
If a gunshot is detected by three of the sensors, the system can triangulate a location accurate within 25 meters, according to the ShotSpotter spokesman.
The system also documents information that prosecutors can use to build stronger cases than those that rely solely on witness testimony.
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Erin Lopez |
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