Last week, the city of Sacramento spent $2.6 million to retain the services of controversial AI technology that tracks the location of gunfire, an expense that other cities across the nation have rejected.
“We believe that ShotSpotter is a crucial piece of (technology)… and we’re seeing a positive result from the use of these dollars,” said Zachary Bales, deputy chief of the Sacramento Police Department, at the city council meeting where the contract was approved.
Produced by a company called SoundThinking, ShotSpotter claims to be able to pinpoint the location of urban gunfire by using sensors that can determine the acoustic signature of shots fired with 97% accuracy…