Alders continue to push for ShotSpotter replacement, despite canceled hearing over lack of attendance

A City Council committee meeting to discuss the delayed effort to replace ShotSpotter in Chicago ended abruptly on Wednesday when not enough alders were present to hold the meeting, but backers of the gunshot detection system vowed to continue pressing Mayor Brandon Johnson to find a replacement.

The City Council Public Safety Committee was scheduled to meet for the second time to question the Johnson administration about why ShotSpotter has yet to be replaced nearly two years after the mayor shut it down.

But not enough alders were in the City Council chamber to hold the meeting, so it was called off. Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who chairs the committee, said the debate will continue despite the latest setback.

A meeting that needed at least 9 of 18 committee members physically present was dismantled after a handful of alders left the meeting moments before a quorum call.

"Ultimately, the majority must prevail, and we will do so. I'll reconvene this meeting," Hopkins said. "Despite the delays, the mayor's office assured me that they are still committed to finding a new gunshot detection system for the city."

Hopkins and other backers of ShotSpotter planned to use the meeting to refute new data released by the University of Chicago Justice Project showing there is no evidence that getting rid of ShotSpotter slowed police response times or drove up violent crime, as many warned.

The UChicago Justice Project analysis found police response times improved by four minutes in the six months after ShotSpotter went away, compared to the previous six months. The study suggested officers previously tied up responding to ShotSpotter alerts could now prioritize other emergency calls.

Hopkins shrugged off those findings.

"It is not an accurate study. It was not correct methodology, and it's deceptive to use it to imply otherwise," he said.

In a statement, University of Chicago sociology professor Rob Vargas, who leads the Justice Project, said in part he was "unable to appear before this committee in person today. I was notified of this hearing less than 24 hours ago."

Vargas went on to say, "the technology was sold as a tool to reduce crime" and that "the company then pivoted to selling the product on the basis of faster response times to gunshot incidents."

 "The product's advocates have arrived at this hearing to argue that our study is flawed because it did not center shots-fired calls. That is not a methodological critique, it is moving the goalposts one more time. The company and its advocates would rather debate the merits of one particular study instead of [ShotSpotter parent company] SoundThinking's track record of evading evidence based accountability in Chicago.

Rev. Michael Pfleger was among a number of community leaders who held a rally before Wednesday's meeting to support efforts to replace ShotSpotter with a new gunshot detection system to keep neighborhoods safe.

"This is a tool that can save lives. Let's use every tool we can in the toolbox to save lives in the city of Chicago," Pfleger said.

The reverend argued that, without ShotSpotter, many people have died after police were not notified of a shooting in areas where the gunshot sensors were once active, and no one called 911 about the gunfire that ShotSpotter would have detected

"Over the last two years, there's been a number of bodies that have been found, victims shot who laid on the street and nobody knows for how long they have been there," Pfleger said.

Attendance at City Council committee meetings is typically low, despite alders earning salaries of at least $125,000.