Chicago Expands Gunshot-Detection Pilot After Voters Back Technology
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he has supported gunshot-detection technology, even as he defended ending Chicago’s ShotSpotter contract in 2024. More than 72% of voters backed a nonbinding referendum calling for the city to resume using such technology. The vote does not require the city to restore ShotSpotter or adopt another system.
At a City Council budget hearing, Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts said the administration had changed its pilot plans after the referendum. Instead of testing one vendor, the city will allow all shortlisted bidders to demonstrate their approaches. Roberts said the vote showed what the community wanted and influenced the mayor’s thinking.
The six-month pilot is set to cover six police districts on the South and West Sides: Wentworth, Calumet, Englewood, Deering, Ogden and Harrison. It will consider gunshot detection alongside other approaches, including violence intervention, drones, license-plate recognition and systems for preserving evidence. The city has not named participating companies or specific technologies. Nine firms submitted bids for a permanent replacement, but officials have not selected one.
Johnson said he ended the ShotSpotter contract because he believed the technology had not proved effective in reducing violence. He cited findings from county prosecutors and the city inspector general, saying the reviews found it did not improve safety or prosecutors’ ability to bring cases. He said any replacement should protect privacy and demonstrate effectiveness before the city signs a long-term contract. A separate pilot using ZeroEyes technology has been running for about a year and is still being evaluated.
Some aldermen criticized the expanded pilot as a delay. Ald. Anthony Beale said residents were being put at risk while the city tested a hypothetical program; Ald. Brendan Reilly pointed to the time Chicago has gone without gunshot detection. SoundThinking, ShotSpotter’s parent company, also sought to participate, saying voters’ views deserved consideration.
Chicago Should Test Gunshot Detection Before Making It Permanent
Chicago’s referendum delivered a clear signal: more than 72% of voters favored bringing back gunshot-detection technology. But the vote is advisory, and it does not compel the city to reinstate ShotSpotter. Mayor Brandon Johnson says the real test should be whether a system works and safeguards privacy.
The administration has broadened its six-month pilot after hearing that public support. Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts said all shortlisted bidders will be able to demonstrate their approaches, rather than the city testing a single vendor. Gunshot detection will be only one part of a program that also includes violence intervention, drones, license-plate recognition and evidence-preservation systems.
That caution matters. Johnson ended ShotSpotter’s contract in 2024, saying it had not shown it could reduce gun violence. He cited city and county reviews that, he said, found no improvement in community safety or prosecutors’ ability to bring cases. The mayor says a long-term commitment should come only after effectiveness is demonstrated and privacy protections are addressed.
A separate ZeroEyes pilot has been operating for about a year, and the city expects to assess its results before deciding whether to expand it. Nine firms have bid for a permanent replacement, but none has been chosen. The city’s approach leaves room to evaluate competing tools instead of treating an advisory vote as proof that a particular system works.
Aldermen who condemn the pilot as delay are pressing for a faster return to detection technology. But a rushed choice would not answer the questions Johnson says led him to cancel ShotSpotter: whether the technology delivers results and protects the people it is meant to serve.
Chicago Voters Back Gunshot Detection as Johnson Keeps Testing
Chicago voters made their preference unmistakable: more than 72% backed bringing gunshot-detection technology back. Yet the city still has no permanent replacement for ShotSpotter, whose contract Mayor Brandon Johnson ended in 2024, and the administration is widening a pilot instead of announcing a choice.
At a budget hearing, procurement chief Sharla Roberts acknowledged that the referendum influenced the administration’s decision to let all shortlisted bidders demonstrate their approaches. The six-month pilot will cover six South and West Side police districts. It will include gunshot detection, but also other ideas such as violence intervention, drones, license-plate recognition and evidence-preservation systems.
Ald. Anthony Beale warned that people are bleeding in the streets while the city pursues what he called a hypothetical pilot. Ald. Brendan Reilly noted that the city has spent over two years without a system to detect gunfire and criticized the administration for not choosing from bids already submitted. Their objection is straightforward: a vote that strongly favors restoring the technology should not be followed by another open-ended process.
Johnson maintains that ShotSpotter did not prove it could reduce violence, and he says any replacement must demonstrate effectiveness and protect privacy. He cited reviews that he said found no improvement in safety or prosecutions. But the city has not announced which technologies will be tested, who will provide them or which bidder will receive a permanent contract.
The referendum is not binding, but Roberts said it spoke loudly. The administration’s expanded pilot recognizes that public demand; the unresolved question is whether it will produce a timely decision.
Reported by Block Club Chicago, Chicago Sun-Times, CBS Chicago.
