Rockford Police Say Their New System is Producing Results
The Rockford Police Department is using new technology to track down gunshots and improve public safety in the city. The new technology is called a 'ShotSpotter'. It looks similar to a security camera. The technology uses small audio sensors placed throughout the city to triangulate the sound of gunfire and pinpoint the number of shots fired at that location. According to mystateline -
Rockford Police say the new ShotSpotter system has directly led to the arrest of 16 individuals on charges ranging from weapons to fireworks, since it went operational in March.
Along with that, ShotSpotter also assists in the recovery of evidence. Andre Brass from the RPD said -
In the past when it's kinda fuzzy information and people are not quite sure where it's at. An officer can actually drive through a location where the shots were coming from and not even know it because he didn't know where it was coming from and he could go through the hot zone of where the shots were at and not even know it. but now we know exactly where it's happening.
Rockford Mayor, Thomas McNamara summed it up when he said -
We've engaged our community. We've invested in our department with technology and with people and we have really focused on the most violence of violent offenders and are working to take them off the streets every day.