Saturday, June 23, 2007

Hey Toronto - Here's An Idea

The City of Boston is in the process of setting up a system that could be just the thing for Toronto. It's a gunshot detection system that's designed to curb shootings. From the Boston Globe:

"Mayor Thomas M. Menino touted the crime- fighting capabilities of the acoustic sensors that can pinpoint the location of gunfire within 30 feet of its origin and dispatch police to shooting scenes in less than 10 seconds.

"We need more tools in our arsenal to track shootings and have police on the scene within seconds," the mayor said at the time. "Delays always give criminals a chance to leave the scene."

Boston hasn't got the system up and running yet due to contract squabbles with the manufacturer, Shotspotter Inc. The technology is already in use in several US cities including Washington, D.C. The US Army has also bought fixed and mobile versions of the technology.

"The city first began looking at the technology more than a year ago, when Councilor Rob Consalvo asked the mayor and police officials to look at ShotSpotter, which was credited with a 31 percent reduction in violent crime in North Charleston, S.C., and with helping police in Gary, Ind., to catch shooting suspects with guns still in their hands."

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