Portland is set to use more advanced technology to fight crime. The city’s plan for the ShotSpotter technology is the latest in a string of initiatives aimed at addressing gun violence in the city. Some believe that the problem is at crisis levels. Portland’s Mayor has decided to move forward with the controversial technology that claims to detect and pinpoint gunshots throughout the city.
In the middle of last week, Portland police counted 958 shootings this year and 290 people injured by gunfire. There have been 66 homicides, 57 of them involving gunfire.
Recently, Mayor Wheeler announced the bureau was paying more attention to the entertainment district. He brought back the entertainment detail of officers who patrol Old Town on weekend nights. Portland police have also brought back units of officers focused solely on gun violence, but shootings have remained near record high levels.
The ShotSpotter chosen by the mayor is not perfect. The Focused Intervention Team’s Community Oversight Group, or FITCOG, recommended the city adopt ShotSpotter in a July report. That report called the technology “a focused deterrence tool as part of the overarching gun violence response strategy” in the city.
There is still a vote to be had on the proposal which seems to still be a work in progress. The proposal will entail going over the city’s gun violence data to determine the scope and location of the ShotSpotter pilot program before presenting it to the City Council for a vote.
There is yet an underlying claim reported that ShotSpotter employees have reclassified sounds as gunfire at the request of police. In making their original recommendation in July, the FITCOG report leaned heavily on a ShotSpotter-funded study refuting the MacArthur study. There are still decisions to be made in the next two weeks.
