Durham schools, residents resist ShotSpotter request to put gunshot detectors on their buildings

The technology is intended to help the city identify and deploy police to an area where gunshots were heard-- even if no 911 call was placed. Unlike other forms of police surveillance, ShotSpotter only uses audio to detect gunshots.

Posted 5:42 p.m. Sep 23, 2022 — Updated 10:36 a.m. Sep 24, 2022

Sarah Krueger

, WRAL Durham reporter

DURHAM, N.C. — A company that sells and installs a controversial gunshot detection technology is looking to install their technology throughout Durham.

ShotSpotter's gunshot detection system has already been approved by the city's council to be used by Durham Police Department along three square miles of east and south Durham. The city is paying nearly $200,000 for a one-year pilot program.

The technology is intended to help the city identify and deploy police to an area where gunshots were heard— even if no 911 call was placed. Unlike other forms of police surveillance, ShotSpotter only uses audio to detect gunshots.

The gunfire detection system was expected to be operational by September, but due to delays in the technology that city leaders said were "out of [their] control," the system will not be put to use until mid-November.

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The Durham Public School Board of Education said in a Thursday night meeting that ShotSpotter reached out to them on Sept. 2 to ask to bring its technology to six of the school system's buildings.

The board was concerned about how often the technology would prompt police to rush to a school campus for a false alarm.

A report reviewing the ShotSpotter technology in Chicago found that the technology sent police officers into parts of the city more than 60 times a day on false alarms. As a result, the technology increased the incidence of stop and frisk tactics by police officers, according to the ACLU.

However, the city of Durham says that an independent audit shows ShotSpotter has a 97% aggregate accuracy rate.

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Board member Natalie Beyer said she doesn't think that the technology is necessary.

"I’d be interested in future conversations about a buffer, of not having ShotSpotter within a certain radius of our buildings," she said.

The school board decided against bringing the technology to six of the school's buildings; however, one board member said she was not opposed to the technology.

"I definitely trust their judgment," board member Jovonia Lewis said about Durham City Council. "It’s really not my position to judge the efficacy or the project itself."

Durham City Mayor Pro-Tempore Mark-Anthony Middleton has been an outspoken proponent of ShotSpotter and condemned the board's Thursday night decision.

"The irony of some board members to use the same talking points about 'surveillance' that were rejected by the people of Durham, while leading an organization that uses video cameras en masse to surveil people and property everyday, can not be overstated," he said.

ShotSpotter has also tried to get its technology installed on the roof of a condo building on Magnum Street.

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The board that manages the building also voted to not install this technology.

WRAL News asked ShotSpotter if the reason the technology has been delayed until Nov. 15 is because they are having trouble getting permission from business owners to install their technology.

A spokesperson with the company said that ShotSpotter is still in the "process of securing required permission" to place its 78 detectors throughout downtown Durham. They also said the company had already obtained permission to place sensors on other buildings, but did not specify how many.

A public forum to discuss ShotSpotter's technology will be held at 5 p.m. Monday at the Burton Elementary Media Center located on 1500 Mathison Street.

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