Chicago Police Expanding Use Of Gunshot Detection, Cameras

ShotSpotter1
Engineer Stephan Noetzel alerts a police officer to gunshots on Illinois Street Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 in East Palo Alto, Calif. East Palo Alto is the first U.S. city completely wired with ShotSpotter, strategically placed acoustic sensors designed to help police track gunfire in high-crime areas. Mathew Sumner/AP
Engineer Stephan Noetzel alerts a police officer to gunshots on Illinois Street Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 in East Palo Alto, Calif. East Palo Alto is the first U.S. city completely wired with ShotSpotter, strategically placed acoustic sensors designed to help police track gunfire in high-crime areas. Mathew Sumner/AP
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ShotSpotter1
Engineer Stephan Noetzel alerts a police officer to gunshots on Illinois Street Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 in East Palo Alto, Calif. East Palo Alto is the first U.S. city completely wired with ShotSpotter, strategically placed acoustic sensors designed to help police track gunfire in high-crime areas. Mathew Sumner/AP
Engineer Stephan Noetzel alerts a police officer to gunshots on Illinois Street Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 in East Palo Alto, Calif. East Palo Alto is the first U.S. city completely wired with ShotSpotter, strategically placed acoustic sensors designed to help police track gunfire in high-crime areas. Mathew Sumner/AP
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Chicago Police Expanding Use Of Gunshot Detection, Cameras

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CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Police Department is expanding the use of a gunshot detection system and surveillance cameras in areas of the city that are dealing with high rates of gun violence.

Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says in a statement the expanded ShotSpotter system and crime cameras will be in police districts on the city’s south and west side. Police say the 13.5-square-mile area is where the majority of gun-related violence is taking place.

Johnson says the technology “allows us to police smarter and be more proactive than reactive when it comes to responding to and investigating shooting incidents across the districts.”

The ShotSpotter system, which includes sensors and is used in other cities, was launched in Chicago in 2012 in two 1.5-square-mile areas of the same police districts.