New ShotSpotter is Still Spotty
On July 16, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans sent out a press release pleasantly informing his constituents that the long wait was over: ShotSpotter had arrived in Shaw.
“On one hand I’m glad to see that ShotSpotter is up and running, but on the other, it’s a terrible situation that we need this technology in and around the Shaw neighborhood,” Evans states in his press release.
As many in the neighborhood know, ShotSpotter pinpoints the origin of gunshots by recording their sound. “People have been calling for it for a long time,” says ANC commissioner Kevin Chapple. They don’t see it as a “silver bullet” or a “cure-all”—just one more thing possibly dissuading criminals from pulling the trigger.
Unfortunately, on August 4, Chapple had to break some bad news on his blog: ShotSpotter was not actually totally “up and running,” as previously stated. At a recent community meeting, Inspector Edward Delgado told roughly a dozen Shaw-area citizens that the sensors did not capture the sounds of local resident, Chris Taylor, getting shot near the corner of 7th and N Streets, Northwest on July 27.
Reached by phone, Delgado confirmed the account, saying that all the sensors by the crime scene weren’t operational at the time (luckily, actual real live cops were just around the corner at the time of the shooting.) He added that about 93 percent of the new coverage area’s sensors had been installed. The Metropolitan Police Department was still negotiating some MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with private building owners to situate sensors on their property. Delgado couldn’t be sure when the entire coverage area—which encompasses parts of Shaw, the U Street Corridor, Columbia Heights, Park View and Adams Morgan—would be “up and running” until all the sensors were installed.
“Mind you, we are working on it. We want to make it operational. It has been very successful east of the river. We’re just trying to bring it to the third district,” he says.
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3:44 pm
It’s less likely to dissuade gunslingers who shoot even when there are patrols just around the corner than it will help the authorities locate and get to the crime scene as soon as possible when officers aren’t nearby.
4:35 pm
So once again, Jack Evans has lied to the residents of Shaw. This is just more proof that he doesn’t care about the residents, their lives, or safety – just their votes.
4:44 pm
The councilman jumped the gun a bit in his annoucement – and why not? Everyone likes good news. But things like this are never going to replace citizens who care and cops who do their jobs. And it is indeed sad that the city had to invest our tax dollars like this. We should never have allowed the vermin who do this crap to infest our streets to start with.
4:51 pm
http://lifein.mvsna.org/index.cfm/2008/8/5/Stopping-Bullets
The main reason we (and the police) wanted this is to help the police do their job. I just want honesty. Its not too much to ask.
2:45 pm
The residents of Shaw had been working long and hard to get Spotshotter in the area to help MPD with the gunfire that is a “normal” part of our lives today. To “jump the gun” and tell us it’s there is nothing more than a public relations stunt by Evans … which is the same reason he jumped on the “Save Shaw Middel School” bandwagon. If there is nothing in it for him politically in Shaw, then we don’t see any action from him. As Si mentions above, if there is a reason it’s delayed, then be honest and tell us – don’t lie to us and think we’re fools – not all of us are and the numbers that are waking up to Jack’s tricks are growing daily. We’re fed up with being treated like third-world citizens.
11:16 pm
Inspector Edward Delgado is a joke and would know what a shot-spotter was — he needs to be demoted and investigated for criminal acts…