[From When Shots Fired, Cops "Hear" It Instantly | NBC Chicago]
The history of gunshot detection in Chicago begins with a trial in 2004 by Safety Dynamics and a later pilot program in 2007 with ShotSpotter. In April, I noted that despite ShotSpotter – Not a Silver Bullet, the city felt gunshot detection was too expensive. The NBC reporters decided to pursue this story:
But now? Both systems appear to have gone by the wayside. A police spokesman wrote in an e-mail that the programs were “not entirely effective” in an urban environment. The cost of the programs were also cited. Despite repeated requests to interview Chicago police, our requests went unanswered.
Perhaps the reason for the silence is the fact that the city apparently hasn’t paid its bills. Officials from both ShotSpotter and Safety Dynamics said the city owes them money. Safety Dynamics said it would like its equipment back or be paid. Shot Spotter said the city owes them close to $200,000.
The story does mention (as will ShotSpotter) that there are cities that are happy with the results of the gunshot detection technology. The more interesting part of the story for me is not Chicago’s unwillingness to use the technology, but their inability to be open to the public about the technologies they use.
rshah Chicago, Gunshot Detection
[From Red-light cameras increase rear-end crashes - and revenue]
A plug for myself . . . recent interview on red light cameras:
We are assured they are for our own good. We are assured they decrease accidents at intersections. And with those assurances comes the unspoken rebuke: How could anyone be against anything that reduces accidents and saves lives?
It was not a question Rajiv Shah intended to address. Shah, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, originally set out to study the City of Chicago’s extensive use of closed-circuit TV cameras. But when he learned the city also had the largest network of red light cameras in North America, with RLCs deployed permanently at 188 intersections, he decided to investigate the city’s claims that those RLCs significantly reduced intersection accidents.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/light+cameras+increase+rear+crashes+revenue/3554953/story.html#ixzz10A59LN1V
rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras
[From Daily Herald | Red-light camera shocker! Village finds devices aren't wonder cure]
Meanwhile, Lombard is nixing its one remaining red-light camera, at North Avenue and Route 53. “We didn’t see any significant statistical differences (in crashes),” Deputy Police Chief Dane Cuny said.
Originally, Lombard had cameras at two intersections. The statistics showed crashes decreased at North and Route 53 but increased at another location at Finley and Roosevelt roads. The conflicting results convinced village leaders to yank the devices.
rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras
[From Napolitano praises Chicago's surveillance camera system |]
The official leading the spending spree on surveillance cameras:
Pressed on whether the ever-expanding network is a good thing, she said: “Absolutely. If you look at cities around the world — like London, for example, [and] Madrid has been employing more cameras — they are deterrents. But they are also force multipliers, and they enable us to make the best use of our first responders.”
rshah Chicago
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