CHINATOWN — With weeks to go before the city’s contract with ShotSpotter expires, Police Supt. Larry Snelling reiterated his support of the controversial police technology Tuesday, saying it helps officers arrive at crime scenes faster.
Neighbors asked Snelling about his stance on ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology, at a public hearing Tuesday night at Pui Tak Center, 2216 S. Wentworth Ave., hosted by the civilian-led Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
About 100 people attended the meeting, the first in a series of town hall events with Snelling where residents can ask questions and share their concerns about public safety. The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at JLM Center, 2622 W. Jackson Blvd. Neighbors can sign up in advance here or register at the door, space permitting.
There will also be a separate community meeting focused on ShotSpotter technology at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at St. Sabina Catholic Church, 1210 W. 78th Place.
The police department has used ShotSpotter technology since 2016, but numerous reports have questioned its efficacy and warned that it can contribute to the over-policing of marginalized communities.
The city’s $33 million ShotSpotter contract was extended by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in December 2020 and again last October. The contract is set to expire Feb. 16, according to city records.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has said there are better ways for the city to spend its money but stopped short of promising to cancel the city’s contract even though that was something he pledged to do on his campaign trail.
Snelling, who took over as Chicago’s top cop in September, on Tuesday again voiced his support for “any technology that will help solve violent crimes and save lives.”
He said ShotSpotter effectively detects sounds and immediately alerts police that someone fired a weapon in a particular place, which helps officers respond to shootings more quickly.
Snelling described a situation where ShotSpotter alerted police of a shooting, allowing officers and paramedics to arrive within a few minutes and help the person who was shot before anyone was able to call 911.
“Because of this technology, officers have been able to get to scenes quicker and do outstanding work that people don’t even know they do,” Snelling said.
A neighbor at the meeting who identified himself by his first name, Jose, asked Snelling if there was anything that would make him change his mind about using technologies like ShotSpotter to respond to crime.
The neighbor cited a 2021 MacArthur Justice Center study that concluded ShotSpotter sent Chicago police officers to more than “40,000 dead-end deployments,” meaning officers never filed a police report after responding to an event. Only about 11 percent of the ShotSpotter alerts resulted in officers filing a report “likely involving a gun,” according to the study’s analysis of city records.
Snelling said people often misunderstand how ShotSpotter works and the role it plays in police response.
The technology is useful for detecting gunshots and allows officers to arrive at a scene more quickly, but a ShotSpotter alert isn’t used as evidence to prove someone committed a crime, he said.
“You tie sound detection to a lot of things it’s not tied to. You can read studies and I can show you how it works. There a lot of things that are written and people talk a lot about data or that the data doesn’t lie, people do. Until you actually see it, you don’t understand,” Snelling said. “Shot detection does one simple thing, it detects gunshots and it allows officers to get to those locations quicker.”
Anthony Driver, president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, told attendees the group has discussed the merits of ShotSpotter. Although many ShotSpotter alerts don’t result in police reports, it can still be helpful for officers to ensure people’s safety, he said.
Driver described a situation where he got home from work and saw his neighbor fire gunshots into the air, which concerned him because he knew his grandmother would be joining him at home soon.
Driver said he didn’t want to call the police because his neighbor would know he made the call, but ShotSpotter instantly alerted officers who came and spoke with the neighbor. Though police left without filing a report, Driver was relieved his neighbor stopped shooting.
“This is me speaking as a young Black Chicagoan who grew up in a neighborhood plagued by gun violence. I’m not trying to argue for or against [ShotSpotter], but … for the people who keep bringing up these studies over and over, I would implore them, go into communities affected by gun violence and talk to those folks,” said Driver, drawing applause from the audience.
A few attendees asked Snelling about his strategies for building trust between police and marginalized communities.
Smelling said he’s “infusing community engagement” into all officers’ training. He said he is also committed to recruiting police officers who speak a variety of languages so that residents feel more comfortable interacting with police in their communities.
Residents also asked Snelling about his plans for reducing crime throughout the city, particularly shootings, robberies and car theft.
Snelling said most crime is “trending in the right direction,” with car thefts down about 60 percent this month compared to January 2023 and homicides down about 50 percent.
One person asked about Snelling’s ability to provide adequate security for the Democratic National Convention in August, adding he was concerned crowds of teenagers could give the city a bad reputation.
There have been fewer large gatherings of teenagers Downtown since officers began using technology to “get out in front of” potential meetups and partnering with parents, schools and community organizations to prevent large, chaotic groups from forming, Snelling said.
“We don’t want to violate anyone’s rights,” Snelling said. “But if teenagers break the law, they’ll be arrested and their parents will have to come pick them up. We’re not going to stand idly by and let people break the law and do nothing about it.”
Snelling said the department is already preparing for the potential of large-scale protests at the Democratic National Convention. Officers have been training for the event since last year, he said.
The convention is Aug. 19-22, with events at the McCormick Place Convention Center and the United Center.
Chicago last hosted the DNC in 1996. Before then, the city hadn’t held a major party’s convention since the infamous 1968 DNC, when riots broke out and the National Guard was called in.
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