Cleveland City Council has voted to accept a $375,000 grant from a private foundation to fund gunshot detection technology. The technology would alert law enforcement when gunshots are detected in a high-crime area on the city’s east side, where the program is slated to be tested.
Fourth District Commander Brandon Kutz said the area has been prone to violence.
“In that three square miles we’ve had 3,100 calls for shots fired, about 310 felonious assaults, which is shootings or stabbings typically, and we’ve had 49 homicides in three years."
Critics of the technology say it would allow police to increase surveillance, but Kutz said the City would only collect audio of gunshots and that conversations are not likely to be picked up.
The Cleveland Department of Public Safety will select a vendor. Kutz anticipates installation of the technology will take three to five months.