By Jim Guy, The Fresno Bee
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer on Monday introduced technology capable of tracking gunshots to within feet of the shooter — a new weapon to help quell random and gang gunfire that plagues the city almost every night.
The chief said the ShotSpotter system, which uses acoustic sensors placed in three areas where gunfire is a frequent occurrence, will notify officers within seconds when a gun is fired with "pinpoint accuracy."
He said the system, which is being funded by a state grant of $150,000 for the next three years, is in place ahead of schedule and under budget.
The system arrives just in time for Fresno, where reports of shootings are up more than 20% — to 181 — from the same time period in 2014.
Dyer said that not only will officers be able to get a jump on those illegally firing weapons, but it will also help first-responders more quickly aid shooting victims. That’s important, because not all shootings are reported — about 20% are not.
Gunshot tracking has been around since the 1990s, but the technology is much more finely honed today. Dyer said it can differentiate between the caliber of weapons fired — vital information if shots are being exchanged — and can track the direction and speed of a car used in a drive-by shooting.
The system goes into action when someone fires a gun in one of the three areas of the city where ShotSpotter is operational. An acoustic device sends a signal to the ShotSpotter operations center in Newark, which in turn sends an alert to the Fresno police command center, dispatchers and officers in the field with the location of the gunfire. An icon on the screen also allows officers to hear a replay of the shots.
Fresno is one of 80 cities in the U.S. using the technology. There are cities in Latin America also using it, Dyer said. He said he received rave reviews about it from the police chiefs in San Francisco and Oakland.
The chief said the department will not disclose the areas or boundaries where ShotSpotter acoustic devices are in place. To do so would limit its effectiveness as a deterrent and increase the chances for sabotage.
It’s likely that the system will be placed in other areas of the city in the future and Dyer said the department is working with Fresno Unified School District, which would like to make use of ShotSpotter, as well.
The chief said a side-effect of the technology is that it could possibly increase the chance of an armed confrontation between a rapidly arriving officer and the shooter.
"But that just goes with the territory," he added.
©2015 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
