City staff are asking West Palm Beach’s City Commission to pay a man $85,000 to settle a lawsuit related to the police department’s response to a “ShotSpotter call” in 2023, according to a draft agenda published on the city’s website.
The lawsuit alleges ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection program where sensors are placed around a city then listen for loud noises and potentially dispatch police officers to the area without a 911 call, sent officers to the wrong address when investigating a potential shots fired investigation. The suit raises questions about the system’s accuracy and training officers receive while responding to ShotSpotter calls.
City may pay $85,000 to settle ShotSpotter police response lawsuit
Bryant Grant, who documents show lives in Wellington, sued the city and police officer Romario Saunders in federal court this September claiming he was falsely imprisoned, unlawfully searched and wrongfully physically injured outside a West Palm Beach neighborhood. He also claims Saunders used excessive force and the city was negligent by not properly training officers on how to respond to ShotSpotter incidents.
According to the incident report WPTV obtained from a public records request, Saunders was sent to the 1300 block of Ninth Court where he found Grant in the middle of the street. Saunders said in the incident report that he believed Grant was the man, who discharged a firearm, because he was the sole person in the roadway and in the exact area where the ShotSpotter sensors detected four rounds. He said he unholstered his weapon and gave various verbal commands. The footage shows some verbal commands were followed while other commands weren’t followed…