ShotSpotter has little impact on arresting shooters, Cook County prosecutors' report finds
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A leaked internal report from Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's Office revealed an expensive gunshot detection system used by the City of Chicago has "minimal return on investment" when it comes to holding shooters accountable.
The report examined whether the technology known as ShotSpotter has been worth it to taxpayers. The information comes out with only eight days left on the company's multimillion-dollar and somewhat controversial contract with the City of Chicago.
The Cook County States Attorneys' data reinforced concerns the CBS 2 Investigators have been reporting on for years.
"This document is unlike any other," said Freddy Martinez, executive director of Lucy Parsons Labs, a Chicago-based collaboration of data scientists, government transparency advocates, and others.
Martinez is also part of the Stop ShotSpotter campaign seeking to end the use of the system in Chicago.
While police have applauded the technology, Chicago's current $49 million contract with SoundThinking, the company behind ShotSpotter, has been in the crosshairs of community activists for years.
"The contract should be canceled"
Activists have said the money the city is spending on ShotSpotter would be better used investing in Black and Latino neighborhoods.
But this is the first time the public is getting a look at ShotSpotter's usefulness, according to Cook County prosecutors, who are tasked with seeing that the evidence collected by the system — which uses sensors placed across the city — leads to actually holding people accountable.
"It seems to indicate quite clearly that Kim Foxx's office sees it as much more of a liability than any kind of useful tool in any kind of prosecution," Martinez said.
Martinez said the data in the report validates what they've been saying: that ShotSpotter is not making a significant impact on shooting incidents.
According to the report, which the Cook County States Attorney's Office confirmed was an internal report produced this fall, only 1% of shooting incidents end in a ShotSpotter arrest, while 92% of shooting incidents are unrelated to ShotSpotter.
That means that ShotSpotter costs Chicago $217,368.42 for every person arrested in a ShotSpotter shooting incident.
From there, the report says most ShotSpotter arrests are for probationary crimes.
"On weight of evidence, I think the position is quite clear that the contract should be canceled," Martinez said.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office said the internal report was created "to proactively assess the effectiveness of SpotShotter technology in prosecuting gun cases."
"Minimal return on investment"
The Cook County Public Defender's Office also reviewed the report and said they've long had questions of reliability.
"Although we have been successful in litigating several cases involving Shotspotter, we are unable to determine how many innocent people have been falsely accused at the hands of this technology," Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr's office said.
The report from Foxx's office concluded, "ShotSpotter is an expensive tool that provides minimal return on investment to the prosecution of gun violence."
A SoundThinking spokesperson said the company believes the report contains "some serious misleading interpretations."
"We do not know the source of the information in the report or how it was prepared, but it doesn't reflect our experience with the CCSAO, which routinely subpoenas SoundThinking for information related to prosecutions," the company said. "While we believe ShotSpotter is a vital tool in any city's toolbox to assist law enforcement in delivering efficient, effective, and equitable responses, it would be a mistake to frame the technology's greatest purpose as a system solely used to result in arrests."
SoundThinking also faulted the report's findings on costs per arrest in a ShotSpotter shooting incident.
"The cost of arrests listed in the CCSAO report factors in conviction costs without consideration of other costs – including the cost of loss of life (fatal) or injury (nonfatal) to victims, as well as the cost of trauma for victims, their families, and their communities when criminal gunfire occurs without a prompt and potentially life-saving response," the company said.
As for the future of the contract, which expires Feb 16, the city's Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is holding a hearing on ShotSpotter technology on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Sabina Church.
