Cleveland Officials Credit ShotSpotter for Saving Lives and Ensuring a Safer Community

With an increase in shootings and many gun-related crimes going unreported, police found it difficult to know when, where or even if an incident occurred. This prompted the city officials to adopt new technology to address gun violence.

In late 2020, SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system was deployed in key gunfire hot spot areas of the city and it immediately led to significant results. Addressing the low rate of public reporting, the Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) revealed that in just one year they had received 2,777 ShotSpotter alerts for gunfire incidents that had not been called into 9-1-1. These real-time alerts include a precise location of a shooting, allowing officers to arrive on the scene quickly and better prepared. Already the CDP’s increased response efforts are estimated to be at least two times as fast as prior to ShotSpotter and helped them to provide critical first aid to save six lives.

Homicides have dropped 15% from 2020 to 2021 in the coverage area while a similar non-ShotSpotter area experienced a 25% increase in homicides. The city is seeing other results that bolster the efforts to make the community safer with 38 guns recovered and 36 arrests. In terms of investigations, the CDP reports that the fast on-the-scene response has helped them increase evidence collection, resulting in 175 NIBIN leads. Overall city leaders say that the existence and awareness of ShotSpotter is a deterrent in and of itself and a positive step to build trust and strengthen the police and community relationship.