National Insitute of Justice Awards Grant to NLECTC-SE for ShotSpotter to Develop Wireless Gunshot Location Detection System

Mountain View, CA and North Charleston, SC – May 16, 2005 – ShotSpotter, Inc. and the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center - Southeast region (NLECTC-SE), today announced they are working together to develop wireless systems that allow law enforcement personnel to detect gunshots and their locations in urban environments within seconds of the weapon discharging. A grant from the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) COPS program is providing the funding for the effort.

ShotSpotter Gunshot Location Systems are currently deployed in various law-enforcement jurisdictions around the country, from Los Angeles, CA to Charleston, SC. The most recent high-profile case to employ ShotSpotter technology was the Columbus, Ohio sniper. The FBI and the Franklin County, OH Sheriff’s Department utilized the technology to develop evidence in that case.

“We are pleased to have received this grant and be working with ShotSpotter to develop a wireless gunshot location system that could assist law enforcement in their efforts to combat crime,” said Bartley Coghill, project managerNLECTC-SE.

The NIJ grant will allow ShotSpotter systems to be deployed to areas that could benefit from rapid deployment, portable deployments, as well as areas where it is difficult to gain access for permanent “hardwire” installations, such as at our borders and ports.

“We are fortunate to have the NIJ and the NLECTC-SE recognize the importance of this technology, and to be working with their knowledgeable and supportive experts,” said James G. Beldock, CEO, ShotSpotter. “We’ve had great success with our currently installed systems, as well as with our existing wireless technology. This grant has allowed us to fully productize that technology and bring our expertise into additional areas of homeland security and law enforcement that can benefit from the use of rapid, accurate gunshot location detection.”

NLECTC-SE has requested that ShotSpotter develop two types of products with the funds provided by this grant:

• ShotSpotter Rapid Deployment System: Wireless gunshot location systems for rapid deployment, e.g. for a specific criminal investigation or for crisis situations.
• ShotSpotter Wireless: Wireless gunshot location sensors for semi-permanent installations. Benefits include lower monthly costs and quicker installation, as well as access to areas where permanent installations are difficult but security is critical, such as at our nation’s borders and ports.

Deployment of the first systems covered under this announcement is targeted for the second quarter of 2005. The company plans to release the details of the products and their availability within the next few months. These wireless law enforcement products will join the full line of wireless gunshot location detection systems for the military which ShotSpotter announced previously.

About ShotSpotter, Inc., (www.shotspotter.com)

ShotSpotter, Inc., the leading developer of gunshot location systems and technology, is based in Mountain View, CA. ShotSpotter’s flagship product, which detects gunfire across large urban areas using a small number of inexpensive and easy-to-deploy sensors, currently protects the citizens of cities nationwide, from Los Angeles, CA to Charleston, SC. Its products recently assisted the FBI and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in identifying and capturing the Columbus, Ohio highway sniper suspect. In 2000, ShotSpotter was honored for its technology vision and leadership when it won the Computerworld Smithsonian Laureate Award, having been nominated by William H. Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, and the Smithsonian added its technology to the museum’s permanent collection. With technology covered by granted and pending US patents, the company also offers products to the homeland security and military markets. ShotSpotter technology has produced arrests and weapons confiscations nationwide and has helped reduce gunfire and crime rates in cities that deploy it.

About the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center: Southeast (www.justnet.org)

With a mission to support law enforcement, corrections, and other public safety agencies as an honest broker of technology information and assistance, the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center - Southeast (NLECTC-SE) is the regional field representative of the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Office of Science and Technology. NLECTC-SE's no-cost services span a broad range of activities designed to facilitate the implementation of affordable, quality, technology-oriented services and systems with the ultimate goal of greater effectiveness, efficiency, and safety. Center services include: Assessing the needs of the public safety community; Providing information on technology and its implementation to the public safety community; Coordinating evaluations of new and emerging technologies to determine their effectiveness for use in the public safety community; Supporting advisory groups of subject matter experts to guide and evaluate technology research and development to meet the needs of the public safety community; Assisting agencies in developing enhanced information management capabilities, including records management and wireless communications; Identifying and testing technologies to address school safety concerns; Enhancing incident mapping and geo-spatial analysis techniques through research and capacity building opportunities; Developing technology solutions for port and maritime security issues; and Facilitating the location and processing of Department of Defense and other Federal agencies' excess equipment for issue to criminal justice agencies.

This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement #2002-MU-MU-K011 awarded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) to the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), which operates the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Southeast Region (NLECTC-SE), a program of the NIJ. Findings and conclusions reported here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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