Inside the Controversial US Gunshot-Detection Firm
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59072745
ShotSpotter has garnered much negative press over the last year. Allegations range from its tech not being accurate, to claims that ShotSpotter is fuelling discrimination in the police.
In the wake of those negative news stories, the company gave BBC News access to its national incident-review centre.
[...] Microphones are fixed to structures around a neighbourhood. When a loud bang is detected, a computer analyses the sound and classifies it as either a gunshot or something else. A human analyst then steps in to review the decision.
In the incident-review room, former teacher Ginger Ammon allows me to sit with her as she analyses these decisions in real time.
Every time the algorithm flags a potential shot, it makes a "ping" sound.
Ms Ammon first listens to the recording herself and then studies the waveform it produces on her computer screen.
"We're looking to see how many sensors picked it up and if the sensors made a directional pattern, because, in theory, a gunshot can only travel in one direction," she says.
Once confident a shot has been fired, Ms Ammon clicks a button that dispatches police officers to the scene.
It all happens in under 60 seconds.
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