Camden County Police Department Credits ShotSpotter with a 47 % Reduction in Gunfire

Over the years the Camden County Police Department has partnered with ShotSpotter, which has proven to be a great tool of the many we use to enhance our ability to combat gun violence and save victim’s lives in the city of Camden, New Jersey. Often it has assisted us to respond to shooting related incidents before any 9-1-1 call(s) are received, if any were made at all.

In the past, we may not receive 9-1-1 call(s) for shooting incident(s), but now we are receiving ShotSpotter activations and 9-1-1 call(s) more often than not. Why? Because the community knows we are here for them, and they know our goal is to make them feel safe and to make their neighborhoods a safer place, which has been done by partnering with the community as a team, and by showing them how technologies like ShotSpotter assist us in accomplishing that.

SoundThinking has assisted us in achieving our goals over the years, and a recent shooting incident has shown that. On Tuesday, September 13th, 2022, we received a ShotSpotter activation for five rounds in one of our neighborhoods within Camden, NJ. Due to the ShotSpotter activation and notification, officers arrived quickly on scene. Officers observed a vehicle fleeing the scene and conducted a motor vehicle stop.

During the subsequent stop, officers recovered three firearms from the vehicle and were able to arrest and charge the four occupants of the vehicle. As a result of the quick response of responding officers, another suspect vehicle related to this incident was located. It was unoccupied and parked blocks away from the scene. Through a later investigation, as a result of finding the vehicle, we were able to arrest and charge the two individuals responsible for the shooting.

ShotSpotter has proven to be an important tool in achieving our goal in the city of Camden.