Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series on Fayetteville’s ShotSpotter program.
Fayetteville’s controversial ShotSpotter program will continue for another year, city council members decided Monday, approving $210,000 in funding for the gunshot detection technology in a 6-4 vote. The decision comes amid ongoing debate about the program’s cost, effectiveness and potential for racial bias.
The year-long pilot program with ShotSpotter is set to end this week. On the table at Monday’s city council meeting were two proposals brought by SoundThinking, the company behind the technology: a three-year contract renewal or a one-year renewal, both costing $210,000 annually. The council ultimately chose the latter after a heated discussion in which every single council member chimed in at one point or another.
What is ShotSpotter and where is it being deployed?
ShotSpotter works by placing sensors in areas with high gun violence, which it claims can detect a gunshot with 97% accuracy. Police are then alerted to the location of the gunshot detected. According to SoundThinking, the technology is used in over 160 cities across the country.
ShotSpotter is being used in a one-square-mile radius in three separate Fayetteville neighborhoods: along a portion of the Murchison Road corridor, in the Massey Hill area and a section of west Fayetteville, near Cliffdale and South Reilly Roads. The locations were chosen based on shots-fired service calls and other gun violence metrics, according to the FPD.
The funding for ShotSpotter unfolds against a backdrop of growing national debate over the technology’s effectiveness and potential biases, with police reform groups locally and nationally voicing strong opposition to the contract. National police reform advocacy group, Campaign Zero, recently placed billboards around the city urging leaders to cancel the contract, as other cities like Durham and Winston-Salem, have done. In North Carolina, Durham, Winston-Salem and Charlotte have terminated their contracts with ShotSpotter — two within the last year.
Fayetteville City Council Member Mario Benavente made the motion Monday to renew the contract for a year, which he described as a “compromise” intended to bridge the gap between those on the council who favored a three-year contract renewal and those who still had unanswered questions. The motion included a provision that there be an independent evaluation of data from ShotSpotter with parameters to judge its success following another year of use in Fayetteville.
“I need those experts to be able to assist us in evaluating this program in a way that’s responsible and not just something that’s a feel-good political statement that people want to make that we’re doing something about gun violence,” Benavente said at Monday’s meeting, “When in reality, $200,000, $600,000 — that’s a lot of money that can actually go to our community and not some tech company in California.”
Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen, Mayor Mitch Colvin, Council Member D.J. Haire and Council Member Derrick Thompson voted against the motion. Those who opposed the yearlong contract said they did so because they favored the three-year contract instead, with some expressing skepticism about the need to have more analysis. Benavente, Council Member Lynne Greene, Council Member Deno Hondros, Council Member Malik Davis, Council Member Brenda McNair and Council Member Courtney Banks-Mclaughlin voted in favor.
More analysis?
Fayetteville Police Chief Kem Braden, who presented data on ShotSpotter Monday, said the technology has assisted police in finding leads and allocating resources and officers at a time when the department is short-staffed. He maintains that it is highly accurate and has allowed police to respond faster to emergencies and homicides.
Responding to questions from Hondros and Benavente, Braden acknowledged the data he presented on ShotSpotter was compiled partially from SoundThinking’s numbers. According to the police department between Sept. 29, 2023, to July 31 this year:
- ShotSpotter, by itself, had led to five guns being recovered and 11 arrests, he said.
- The technology sent the police department 462 alerts that did not coincide with a 911 call, and 107 alerts that also had a 911 call.
- From the alerts it had issued, the technology had detected 1,920 shots fired, according to the police department. Police had found 562 shell casings after investigating ShotSpotter alerts.
During discussions, Thompson said the council should trust Braden’s assessment of ShotSpotter.
“We assigned him to do a job in the city of Fayetteville,” Thompson said. “Why are we not taking his recommendation? Why are we looking outside of what our chief wants? That’s where I’m confused.”
Greene questioned claims made by Jensen and Colvin that Fayetteville’s dip in violent crime was directly correlated to the deployment of ShotSpotter. Hondros also questioned the direct connection between ShotSpotter and the violent crime decrease in the city. He said he supported a one-year contract and the ability to gather evidence about the technology’s effectiveness.
“I’m not sure why we would lock ourselves into a longer agreement when we could look at this, look at the data again next year, have that study back, and see where we can put other resources in those communities that can help cure the source and not the symptoms,” Hondros said.
Criticism
About ten community advocates came to the meeting to protest the contract’s renewal, holding up and passing out signs that read “Stop ShotSpotter” and “Invest in communities. Not surveillance” and “Justice for Lawrence Artis.” Lawrence Artis, a Black man, died after police responded to a ShotSpotter alert connected to gunshots officers heard during the first week ShotSpotter was deployed in Fayetteville, city police said. According to the police department’s account, Artis shot himself with a concealed firearm while in handcuffs, after police had arrested him for holding a firearm as a felon.
Local activists have argued Artis’ case is representative of a common criticism of the technology in other communities, that ShotSpotter increases negative interactions between police and Black and brown people living in low-income neighborhoods. Critics have also condemned the program’s high-cost burden on taxpayers, also expressing concerns about its effectiveness and surveillance capabilities that have caused some major cities, such as Seattle and Chicago, to renege on their contracts.
Council Member Brenda McNair said another year of ShotSpotter with comprehensive data analysis would ultimately allow the city to accurately determine if it does more harm or good for the city.
“I think a one-year contract, it gives us time to demand accountability and clarity on data uses, even though we had a good report this time around, and I don’t see where it would hurt us just to have one year and have another opportunity to look at it again and come back and vote a longer term at a later date,” McNair said. “It is crucial that we hold these systems accountable.”
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
