Detroit OKs $1.5M ShotSpotter renewal, delays vote on $7M expansion

Detroit — The Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a $1.5 million renewal of the controversial ShotSpotter gunfire detection system and postponed a vote on a $7 million expansion of the program after a majority of public commenters at the meeting opposed the system aimed at combating crime in neighborhoods. 

Following months of debate, the council voted 6-3 to approve funding to renew its $1.5 million contract in areas where the software is already deployed. Council members Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Mary Waters, and Angela Whitefield-Calloway voted against it. The three council members also voted against postponing the $7 million expansion vote to Oct. 4.

Police initially requested $8.5 million with the intention of using $7 million in federal pandemic relief funds for expanding the California-based system to nine additional Detroit neighborhoods and $1.5 million from the department's general budget to continue the two existing systems ― one on the east side near Grosse Pointe and the other on the west side near Evergreen and Seven Mile.

ShotSpotter, an aerial gunfire detection system that uses sensors to pinpoint the locations of gunshot activity, is used in other major cities. Some council members argued the software was not effective in those cities where it was used.

Waters, an at large member who was elected last year, was driven to tears during the session. She said while emotions are high, "we cannot ignore the experience of cities like Chicago, San Antonio, Charlotte and others." 

"Chicago got rid of it because it wasn't working for them, but we have to address the breeding grounds for violence: poverty, housing, mental illness, structural racism, just to name a few," Waters said.

"When we first got (Project) Green Light, I was excited about it," she said about the high-definition security camera system that private businesses can join and that is run by the Detroit Police Department. "...You can go to a gas station and people feel comfortable getting out of their car and shooting someone even though there's Green Light. You think they're going to give a damn about ShotSpotter? Show me some data that it's working before you scare our people. We have got to do something to protect our people."

Prior to the councils' vote, Police Chief James White made a last-minute plea by saying there are no videos or voice recordings used with the system. Instead, ShotSpotter responds to a percussion of gunfire, he said. White argued that in some Detroit neighborhoods with high crime like the 48205 area, residents have become desensitized to gunshots and have stopped calling police. 

"This is murder or its attempt. We should all be terrified and do everything we can to make sure that's being investigated. Only 10% of people call 9-1-1," White said. "People are prisoners in their own home and are afraid to get involved. This allows us to know where this gunshot comes from within 80-90 feet. Yes, it costs $7 million, but what is the cost of a life?"

The police chief said he'd like just one year of expansion to prove the success. Areas where ShotSpotter has been deployed have experienced a 27% reduction in fatal shootings and a 43% decline in shots fired incidents, he said.

"ShotSpotter is just one of the layered approaches we’re using to do that. It’s not an ‘either/or’; it’s an ‘and,'" White said. "I need this council to stand with me and pound the table for what we know is right."

Council President Mary Sheffield and Pro Tem James Tate said they would support the $7 million expansion if they can find a way to avoid tapping COVID-19 pandemic relief funding. Gail Fulton, liaison for the city's Law Department, said city officials are exploring finding a source of funding in the existing Police Department's budget as opposed to using the pandemic relief dollars.

Tate said some residents would be more supportive if the city were not using federal pandemic aid.

"I don't believe in this false narrative that we have to support either social services or policing tools. ... We have to do both," Tate said. "I've asked a number of questions to the Police Department. I don't see how it's a preventative tool, but I do see how it is being used for investigations afterwards and especially when you talk to victims families who are pleading for information to assist them in their loved ones case."

Sparring on ShotSpotter

Detroit Police installed the system in 2020, when it first approved a $1.5 million four-year contract. Public Safety Committee Chair Gabriela Santiago-Romero said the system costs an estimated $5,837 for every gun removed off the street. 

There are currently 400 police vacancies within the department and many public commentyers argued Tuesday they'd prefer the funding go toward hiring more officers.

In June, when the initiative was first postponed by a council committee, Santiago-Romero cited Detroit Police data that says officers have removed 257 guns off the streets since they started with the initial $1.5 million contract.

But Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and White have highlighted the system recently during gunfire tragedies, saying ShotSpotter "could have prevented" those incidents if it already had been expanded.

White addressed a recent town hall where he said ShotSpotter is a tool to tell police that someone in a particular area is shooting and that the difference of an instant notice makes a "life-saving difference." Officers placed a memorial for gun violence victims at the entrance of the town hall.

White said had the ShotSpotter expansion already been implemented, two officers' lives could had been saved. 

"Our late hero Officer Loren Courts would have known where the gunfire that precipitated his response was coming from. Meaning, he pulled right in front of the area because he simply did not know that he was at the exact location where shots were coming from," White said. "The same occurred with Officer Glenn Doss."

Courts was killed this summer when he and his partner were ambushed while responding to a 911 call reporting shots fired on the city's west side. Doss died four days after being shot in the head while responding to a domestic violence call in 2018.

District 2 Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway said she would vote against the existing $1.5 million system and the $7 million expansion no matter where the funding came from and advocated against postponing the vote.

"It does not prevent murders. We have a serious problem with crime fighting in this city, and ShotSpotter is not a cure-all," Whitfield-Calloway said. "We have frightened citizens to make them believe that this is going to address the crime problem in this city, and it will not."

Councilman Scott Benson, whose District 3 has been used for the pilot program, said he expected more than was promised of the wrap-around services from the city. He said he has received a written commitment that resources will be provided to residents from police officers coming to clean up the crime scene.

"I will continue to support ShotSpotter as a tool that can be used successfully to reduce crime," Benson said. "There is a greater set of eyes, you are less likely to engage in crime. People will not go towards hard targets, they will go towards soft targets. The commitment to wraparound services is also critical of how we couple this tool with support for our residents and the resources that are necessary."

What public participants said

More than 90 people spoke in person and online regarding ShotSpotter, the majority advocating against it.

A wide coalition of organizations represented by We The People of Michigan ― which includes the Action Center on Race and Economy; Detroit Will Breathe; Michigan Liberation; Detroit Action; Detroit Justice Center and {r}evolution — had representatives that spoke during the public comment period. They released a joint statement saying the expansion is wasteful and they don't trust surveillance systems when policing neighborhoods."ShotSpotter is no exception. Let's be clear about what Shotspotter does: the technology sends police, falsely expecting a shootout, into the Black, brown, and poor communities where microphones are secretly embedded. Instead of preventing gun violence, ShotSpotter tech profits from it. Its entire business model is based on continuing violence and expansion," according to the statement. "The status quo is the real danger to our communities. And greater surveillance is a shining example of the status quo. Luckily, we know what keeps us safe: living in communities where people of every color and background have fair wages, great schools, and affordable healthcare, where we address problems with proven solutions like social support instead of ever more militarized police."

Tanisha Sanders, a resident of District 1, said she's against ShotSpotter because she isn't convinced it would have prevented her family member's death to gun violence.

"I just don't see enough data, enforcement," Sanders said during the public comment period. "I just lost a cousin on Friday who was 18 years old and was shot because she didn't give a guy her number apparently. I lose too many family members, and I'll be at her funeral Saturday. Something needs to happen, but is this the only way?"

Sandra Turner-Handy, who lives in the 9th Precinct where ShotSpotter is deployed, said their area has been deemed one of the most violent in the city and advocated for its expansion.

"ShotSpotter has been able to take guns off the street in our community. I just have to say the fact that gunfire becomes normal, not just in mine, but across the city is unheard of," Turner-Handy said. "We need to work on the root problems but in the meantime, we're losing lives and every live we lose is worth more than $8 million, at least I know my life is worth more."

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_