Oct 4, 2007 9:55 am US/Eastern
System Used To Detect Gunshots Tested In Boston
by Beth Germano
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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The sensors are installed in a six square mile area that is considered to be the city's hot spots.
CBS
Boston Police were out in force Wednesday night to try out a new system designed to pinpoint the origin of a gunshot.
Officials say testing of the sensors, which were strategically placed throughout the city, was a success. With this new system, Boston police say they will no longer have to wait for a 911 call to respond to gunfire, which doesn't always come.
Boston police shot blanks in Boston neighborhoods to test the sensors, known as "Shot Spotter," that will tell police the exact location of where shots rang out. "We'll have accurate information as to whether gunshots were fired at a location within 10 seconds on a dispatcher's screen," said Supt. Daniel Linskey. "We can also push that information out right to our cruisers."
The sensors are installed in a six square mile area that is considered to be the city's hot spots. The police believe the sensors will make their response instantaneous.
"Maybe they can catch some of these people who are out here shooting, you know shooting one another -- killin' everybody" said one Boston resident.
Prior to testing, police knocked on doors to warn residents of the tests. "There are going to be simulated gunshots between the time of 9:30 and midnight," an officer explained to a Roxbury resident.
Still the blanks let off by police scared some people in the area. "A lot of people are scared," said one woman. "They ran in the store… I did. They didn't know what was going on, you know. The bullet didn't have anybody's name on it."
But that is the fear Boston police hope to ease with a system they believe will help stop the gun violence. "Showing up on crime scenes in a timely fashion, arresting individuals, able to identify witnesses who might be in the area…," explains Linskey.
Part of the test was to make sure the system could tell the difference between gunfire from other city sounds. After a few blank rounds were fired, police said the Shot Spotter is ready to go.
In another recent test, WBZ was told the Shot Spotter was able to get within one foot of where a shot was fired -- close enough to find the shell casings.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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