ShotSpotter technology helping New Bern Police fight gun violence

NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) — Starting on Tuesday, the City of New Bern is implementing a new system to help them better respond to gun violence.

The city purchased a three-year contract to have the ShotSpotter system in an area of the city. ShotSpotter is a system that detects audio. The devices are placed on buildings or light poles. They pick up any sounds that may resemble a gun being shot.

Those sounds are then analyzed by experts with ShotSpotter in their incident review center. They’re able to tell if sounds are actually gunfire or something else, like fireworks. Once they make that decision, local officers are alerted by an app and a call comes into the 911 center. All of this happens in less than 60 seconds.

“If we can be on site within 30 to 60 seconds to intervene in the violence that is occurring to those that are involved and rendering aid to those that need medical attention, that’s critically important,” said New Bern Police Chief Patrick Gallagher. “Roughly 80 to 90 percent of all shots fired in this area that we’ve identified isn’t even reported to the police. So we cannot even respond to cases involving gunfire in those cases.

“If there is an injured person that needs medical attention, it’s not coming because we don’t know about it. With respect to that, we can save lives for somebody that is critically injured.”

The New Bern Police Department said they’ve heard some concerns about being able to listen in on conversations. Gallagher said they don’t have the capability to do that.

The new system costs about $49,500 per year. The city’s Board of Alderman covered the first year’s cost and they hope to find community partners who can help with the rest.

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