Richmond police want ShotSpotter over body cams in proposed budget

By Brian Seay

Richmond police may soon get a gunfire detection system that’s seeing mixed results in cities nationwide.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to allocate some $235,000 of a budget surplus to the ShotSpotter system, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The Richmond Police Department is also hoping for 200 more body cameras in the coming fiscal year, in an effort to equip all of the city’s 654 officers. But Police Chief Alfred Durham said if he had to choose between the two, he’d pick ShotSpotter.
The technology uses a series of microphones on poles and top of buildings that pick up the sound of gunfire and triangulate the location of the noise. Then, police dispatchers can give officers GPS locations within 10 to 15 feet of where the shot was fired, in real time.
“This ShotSpotter technology — that’s a matter of life or death. As you know, we have a number of shootings in the city, we have gunshots go off,” Durham said. “I have to make decisions that are in the interest of public safety. I’ve got to weigh what technology is going to benefit the department.”
Richmond saw 61 homicides in 2016, and in 90 percent of them, a gun was involved. More than 200

Source: Guns.com