CAMBRIDGE, MD – New technology in Cambridge keeps police alert to gunshots in their neighborhoods.
The technology is called “Shot Spotter”. Neighborhood and community sensors can detect gunshots anywhere. When there is a gunshot, Cambridge Police receives a message to dispatch and a ping on the phone via the app. Police were able to locate the exact area and the number of shots fired.
The sensors are able to distinguish gunshots from fireworks.
Cambridge Police say Shot Spotter will not only allow police to get to the scene faster, it will also make Cambridge safer.
The technology has recently been installed on utility poles and buildings in the region. This week marks their first success.
Police Chief Justin Todd said: “A lot of times we know we don’t get a call for a shot, and nobody calls the police. We’re going to be called to an area within a few feet. They’re the ones who assured us about 90 percent of the time. The sound is going to happen. It tells us a certain neighborhood within this many feet of where the shots were fired. It tells us how many shots were fired.”
Some in the community support the new system. “I have two kids of my own and we live in an area where all of this is happening. It does make me feel a lot safer knowing I don’t have to worry about something passing by my house or my kids being left outside Playing, someone shooting,” Angelica Edmonds said.
But others in Cambridge are less fond of Shot Spotter and don’t believe it will stop gun violence. “Just because you have these cameras doesn’t mean it’s going to stop anything. Just because you have a small monitor, it’s not going to stop anything,” Manny said.
Sergeant Todd added, “If you’re going to the city of Cambridge and you’re going to bring a pistol, if you’re going to shoot it, or you’re going to shoot it with a pistol, that’s a different tool for us to catch you.”
New technology to always monitor.