What you need to know about the ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology

On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council is scheduled to consider the establishment of a Privacy Advisory Board that would provide advice and technical assistance to the council on surveillance technology issues like its prior use of the ShotSpotter gun detection system.

The company’s technology, which uses microphones secured on streetlights to detect gunshots, has been touted by police agencies nationwide as a tool to reduce gun violence, but it has drawn criticism from privacy advocates. The San Diego Police Department started using the technology in 2016 in parts of southeast San Diego that experience high gun violence, and ShotSpotter reported a decrease in local gunfire incidents in the years that followed. The contract has lapsed, and community members are advocating that the privacy advisory board and other measures be put in place before the city considers revisiting the use of ShotSpotter technology in San Diego.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board met with ShotSpotter representatives as well as three community members who have been closely following the issue in recent weeks. Below in their entirety are those two interviews.

If you have comments or questions after watching them, or want to weigh in on whether you think the city should resume using the technology, please email Editorial and Opinion Director Matthew T. Hall at matthew.hall@sduniontribune.com.

The Editorial Board interviewed ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark and ShotSpotter Director of Community Engagement Gerard Tate about the company’s gunshot detection system on March 15, 2022.

The Editorial Board interviewed Khalid Alexander of Pillars of the Community, Lilly Irani of the Tech Workers Coalition San Diego, and Geneviéve Jones-Wright of the TRUST SD Coalition about the use of ShotSpotter technology, on March 28, 2022.

More perspectives on the upcoming surveillance ordinance vote:

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