INDIANPOLIS — Mayor Joe Hogsett along with IMPD Commander Matthew Thomas and City County Council Vice President Zach Adamson recently announced IMPD officers are actively responding to the gunshot detection system pilot program. This technology is designed to pinpoint the location when shots are fired and immediately alert law enforcement.
The next nine weeks will be broken down into three phases. Each phase is three weeks long for each vendor. The first three weeks, Phase III, will be dedicated to the Flock detection vendor. Week four through six, Phase IV, will be dedicated to the ShotSpotter notification and the last three weeks, Phase V, will be focused on J&M Security notifications.
During the nine weeks, East District officers, who are trained on each detection system, will be responding to the shot detection alerts in real time.
The shot detectors are sensors installed in public areas, such as outside businesses and along public streets. Some residents asked to have sensors placed on their homes as well. Installation began in July of this year.
Phase VI is set to begin in December and marks the end of officers responding to notifications in real time. Phase VI will involve a week of data analysis and follow-up with all three vendors.
At the end of the program, IMPD officials will evaluate these devices to see if they improve officer response time to shots fired incidents, if they alert IMPD to unreported shots fired incidents, and if they assist with evidence collection (i.e., discarded firearms, damage to buildings or vehicles, shell casings, and witness statements) on shots fired incidents.
It is important to note that gunshot detection systems do not replace the need for residents to report all shooting incidents by calling 911. This technology enhances IMPD’s ability to use the information provided by our community to narrow the focus of uniform response and investigative follow-up.
The original request for information identified a 4-5 square mile area bounded by Oriental to the west, Massachusetts/21st to the north, Emerson to the east, and Washington St. to the south. In order to capture data effectively from patrol response, the final boundaries being used to analyze data represent approximately at 3 square mile area: Oriental, Massachusetts/21st, Sherman, and Washington St.
IMPD is also continuing the use of other technology to combat violent crime, including public safety cameras, B-link cameras, camera trailers, license plate readers, body-worn cameras.
The city has been experiencing a rash of shootings this year, with more than 550 people shot in the county, and over 173 murders, most by gunfire as of Oct. 16.
