CITY HALL — An ordinance to give alderpeople final say over ShotSpotter’s future use in the city was blocked Wednesday — but its chief sponsor pledged to bring it up for another vote as soon as possible.
Introduced in February by Ald. David Moore (17th), the legislation would require a City Council vote to stop using the gunshot detection system ShotSpotter or remove any violence prevention funding in any ward, effectively reversing Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to withdraw the technology’s use later this year.
Members of the council’s Committee on Police and Fire advanced the ordinance earlier this month. The measure was scheduled to come up for a vote at Wednesday’s full City Council meeting, but it was deferred by alds. Daniel La Spata (1st) and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd).
That means Moore can call the legislation up for a vote at a later Council meeting, which he said could possibly happen as soon as Friday, or at a meeting next month.
If eventually passed, the “ward-by-ward” ordinance would upend Johnson’s decision this winter to phase out Chicago’s use of ShotSpotter — but there are still unanswered questions over how it would work.
Moore’s legislation does not lay out how the city would pay for a new or amended contract with ShotSpotter parent company SoundThinking. ShotSpotter is also deployed on a police district level, which often overlaps and runs through parts of different wards.
“If this passes City Council, then [the mayor] cannot terminate ShotSpotter until he brings it to a vote to the City Council. This cannot be a unilateral move,” Moore said April 1. “If an alderman said, ‘I don’t want ShotSpotter in my ward,’ could an alderman bring an ordinance for that? Yes, they could. And could it be voted on to be removed? Yes, it could.”
The proposal would also require the Police Department to collect additional data about the technology’s accuracy and effectiveness and report it monthly to the City Council.
Johnson and his administration have repeatedly pushed back on the ordinance. Asked during a post-City Council press conference on Wednesday if the move has legal standing, the mayor replied “it doesn’t.”
“There’s no process by which you could govern through a la carte. It just doesn’t exist. So I made my decision,” Johnson said. “You know, I could have cancelled [the ShotSpotter contract] right away. I could have, but I didn’t do that, because I believe in working with people. So that’s what I’m doing.”
After promising to cancel the ShotSpotter contract while running for mayor, Johnson’s administration in mid-February said it had negotiated a contract extension until Sept. 22, to be followed by a two-month phasing-out period before it’s decommissioned.
That nine-month extension is expected to cost Chicago taxpayers over $8.6 million, according to the Sun-Times, which is more than the city paid for the technology in the entire previous year.
The city’s current contract with SoundThinking has been extended several times since 2018. Its sensors are concentrated in 12 police districts on the South and West sides.
Proponents argue the ShotSpotter technology is crucial to promptly respond to gunfire and shootings, especially when first responders may not otherwise be called to the scene. But critics have pointed to numerous reports that question its effectiveness and say it contributes to over-policing while depriving communities of tens of millions in city funding.
Moore on Wednesday said he’s confident he has the support in Council to pass the measure whenever it does come back for a full vote.
“These aldermen who are going to support this are listening to their residents, and when we’re talking about democracy, if we’re talking about inclusiveness, then you will have to let this vote move on,” he said.
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