NYPD’s $54M bet on ShotSpotter: Nine years of data show failures and racial disparities

December 4, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark stands for a portrait at one of the company's facilities in Newark, California, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. Clark has said that the system’s machine classifications are improved by its “real-world feedback loops from humans.” Photo: Josh Edelson/AP

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The NYPD’s nine-year experiment with ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology that relies on an array of microphones to alert police to gunfire, has cost New York City more than $54 million, yet it has yielded little success in addressing gun violence, according to a report released by Brooklyn Defenders on Wednesday.

The report, based on nine years of NYPD data obtained through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, reveals that ShotSpotter’s performance has been dismal, with only 16.57% of alerts confirmed as gunfire. Even more concerning, less than 0.9% of alerts led to the recovery of a firearm, and only 0.7% resulted in an arrest for any alleged illegal activity.

The report highlights that Black and Hispanic New Yorkers bear the brunt of ShotSpotter-related police deployments. Black residents live in precincts with 93% more unconfirmed alerts than the citywide average. Neighborhoods with predominantly Black and Hispanic populations are 3.5 times more likely to have police dispatched based on unconfirmed alerts compared to predominantly white neighborhoods.

ShotSpotter sensors are disproportionately installed in these communities, with two-thirds of New Yorkers living under ShotSpotter surveillance identifying as Black or Hispanic. The technology has drawn criticism for perpetuating racial biases in policing, with increased surveillance leading to frequent, unnecessary police responses in these areas.

Over nine years, ShotSpotter has prompted more than 75,000 alerts, costing taxpayers over $45 million on false or unconfirmed reports. Each unconfirmed alert triggers an average of 30 minutes of police investigation, consuming approximately 5,000 hours annually of officer time.

“NYPD’s tech-washing investment in ShotSpotter merely perpetuates a history of racially biased policing,” said Elizabeth Daniel Vasquez, former director of Brooklyn Defenders’ Science and Surveillance Project and co-founder of the Forensic Evidence Table. “Evaluating the only data available on ShotSpotter’s reliability, this report confirms that the unvalidated technology is not leading to the recovery of guns or the interruption of gun violence. It is time for New York to dismantle its surveillance apparatus, and we can start by ending its relationship with ShotSpotter.”

Brooklyn Defenders and other critics argue that the city’s reliance on ShotSpotter should end when its current contract expires this month.

“Given the tool’s lack of reliability and high price tag, it is clear that NYC should not renew its contract for this technology,” said Jackie Gosdigian, senior policy supervisor with Brooklyn Defenders. “Instead, the city should use this investment on efforts that actually make our communities safer: education, health, poverty reduction, cure-violence and community-based programs, and other resources.”

The NYPD has not disclosed whether it plans to renew its contract with ShotSpotter, but with growing evidence of its shortcomings, advocates are urging the city to reconsider its investment in this controversial technology.