A Chicago alderman on Monday voiced support for a new gunshot detection system that doesn’t have approval from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office or the Chicago City Council.
The system, Alarm.com, was demonstrated Monday afternoon on Chicago’s South Side.
“We’re different than ShotSpotter,” said Marquis McClure, the company's security operations manager. “It’s acoustic sound of gunshots and infrared from the muzzle flash.”
Alarm.com said by using infrared sensors to detect muzzle flashes, it would reduce false detections to police. That was a complaint about ShotSpotter, which Chicago stopped using last fall.
“To answer the critics of the former technology about false positives, this verifies if it’s an actual shooting with a two-step process not just the one,” said Ald. Raymond Lopez of the 15th Ward.
Alarm.com is offering a free pilot program in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, which could include drones that go up and record video of the shooter to help police make an arrest.
“We’re accepting this as a gift to the city of Chicago so we can move forward expeditiously once we are able to work with the administration,” said Lopez.
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But Mayor Johnson’s office told NBC Chicago they are reviewing 15 other technologies that could replace ShotSpotter.
Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, of the 25th Ward, said the full City Council should approve any new gunshot detection system.
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“Whatever proposal is forwarded, it has to be tested. It has to pass not only political scrutiny, it has to be proven by the evidence,” he said.
But with ShotSpotter turned off, Lopez worries it will take too long to agree on a new technology.
Alarm.com said its six-month free pilot program in the Back of the Yards could start by early summer.