Police Test High Tech Tool That Tracks Gunfire

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by Kirk Hawkins
Bio | Email | Follow: @kirkhawkins by Adam Stevens, Photographer

Story Created: Mar 20, 2013 at 8:12 PM EDT

Story Updated: Mar 20, 2013 at 10:27 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--They are the sounds of crime, echoed across the city, around the clock. Sensors and cameras in Uptown installed ahead of the Democratic National Convention last summer are part of a system called ShotSpotter. It can hear and locate those gun shots so cops can respond quickly. Speakers and video cameras are monitored 24/7 in a CMPD Command Center.

Police say it has already helped them pinpoint gun shots. "For us, it's used to identify sounds, large sounds, that we can hear already if we were sitting in the intersection. This just allows us to work smarter instead of harder," said Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department
Major Jeff Estes.

CMPD tested the system before installing it in Grier Heights. "We feel that anything that's gonna make it a better place to live is fine," said  Grier Heights Community Association President Barbara Simpson. Simpson hopes the CMPD expansion will reduce crime. "If you're doing what you need to do, it's not gonna bother you. If you're doing something that you shouldn't be doing. Of course you're
going to be concerned," she said.

Police wouldn't reveal where the sensors are located. But, they say they can't use them to eavesdrop or invade the privacy of people on the streets.

CMPD is looking to expand to Grier Heights within the next several weeks. Police say their timeline depends on the outcome of Wednesday night's tests.

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