ShotSpotter Saves Lives in Columbus By Improving Response Rate and Time

Shootings had become almost a daily occurrence in Columbus, motivating both city activists and local law enforcement officials to invest in new ways to stop the violence.

The Columbus Division of Police introduced ShotSpotter in three neighborhoods in 2019 – and started seeing immediate results. Officers made five arrests for firing a gun or other gun-related crimes in the Hilltop and Linden neighborhoods in the opening weeks of the program. Since then, police have arrested 133 people and seized 132 guns in just 16 months.

ShotSpotter has helped reduce response time to gunshots to as little as 60 seconds compared to about six minutes. The impact has been significant, leading to arrests and getting illegal guns off the streets. Police officials say at least three lives have been saved because officers responded to ShotSpotter alerts during incidents when no one called 9-1-1. Residents do not report gunfire about 60 percent of the time.