Toledo Experiences Immediate And Significant Results Combatting Gun Violence

With an escalating gun violence problem, the Toledo Police Department (TPD) joined forces with state law enforcement officials to earn a grant from the Department of Justice. This funding enabled TPD to deploy ShotSpotter’s gunshot detection technology as part of the city’s new Gun Crime Intelligence Task Force.

In its first day of operation with SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, the agency received a gunfire alert and was able to make a same day arrest. Over time TPD has determined that residents are only reporting approximately 20 percent of the gunfire events to 9-1-1. In just the first ten months of using ShotSpotter, TPD responded to some 750 incidents, approximately 600 of which they never would have known about without ShotSpotter.

With ShotSpotter, TPD receives alerts in less than 60 seconds, pinpointed to the exact location of any gunfire in the area. Officers are on the scene quickly so they can better locate evidence and can also notify nearby residents after an alert with a door hanger requesting crime stopper tips. TPD officials say that ShotSpotter is helping them to combat gun violence whether for shooting incidents, felonious assaults, or even illegal celebratory gunfire. Overall the efforts are making it easier to detect, discover and investigate gunfire events to make Toledo a safer community.