S.T.O.P. Welcomes Audit Showing Failures Of NYPD ShotSpotter

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes Audit Showing Failures Of NYPD ShotSpotter The Office of the Comptroller conducted an audit showing NYPD’s use of ShotSpotter gives false alarms 87% of the time. (New York, NY 6/21/24) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, welcomes an audit by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander detailing the failures of NYPD’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system. The audit found ShotSpotter dispatched officers based on false alarms 87% of the time over a nine-month period, leading officers to waste hundreds of hours per month investigating nonexistent gunshots. The civil rights group called on NYPD to cancel its $22 million contract with SoundThinking, Inc., the company that owns ShotSpotter, and condemned the system for increasing police activity in BIPOC neighborhoods where the software is disproportionately deployed. SEE: Bloomberg - NYC Surveillance Tech on Shootings Gives False Alarms 87% of Time, Audit Finds https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-20/nyc-shotspotter-tech-wastes-nypd-police-time-and-money-audit-finds The New York Times - Gunshot Detection System Wastes N.Y.P.D. Officers’ Time, Audit Finds https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/nyregion/nypd-shotspotter-guns.html “If it wasn’t already clear, SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system is deeply unsound,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Communications Director Will Owen. “Instead of keeping neighborhoods safe, ShotSpotter increases potentially violent police activity in BIPOC communities, all while wasting exorbitant amounts of money and time. Earlier reports on ShotSpotter’s false alarms in Chicago found similar numbers, so this comes as no surprise. We must invest in programs and legislation that address the root causes of high gun violence in the United States, not big tech boondoggles.” SEE: NPR - Chicago will drop controversial ShotSpotter gunfire detection system https://www.npr.org/2024/02/15/1231394334/shotspotter-gunfire-detection-chicago-mayor-dropping In 2022, S.T.O.P. released ShotSpotter and the Misfires of Gunshot Detection Technology, a report detailing how ShotSpotter’s error-prone software targets Black and Latinx neighborhoods, increasing the risk of police violence, and leaves levels of gun crime largely unchanged. In March, S.T.O.P. condemned Mayor Eric Adams for proposing deployment of the scandal-plagued gun technology vendor Evolv in the New York City Subway. Adams shared that the Evolv metal detectors would be concentrated at subway stations based on findings from ShotSpotter’s faulty gunshot detection microphones. SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Report Details ShotSpotter’s Gunshot Technology Misfires https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/7/14/stop-report-details-shotspotters-gunshot-technology-misfires Press Release - S.T.O.P. Condemns Adams For Proposing Scandal-Plagued Gun Tech Vendor In Subway https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2024/3/28/stop-condemns-adams-for-proposing-scandal-plagued-gun-tech-vendor-in-subway AMNY - AI-powered metal detectors coming to NYC subway system in pilot crime-fighting program https://www.amny.com/transit/ai-metal-detectors-nyc-subway-crime/ The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.