Article: 'Shot-spotter' system could help Worcester, Mass. police fight crime

Plus the kids setting off fireworks... I don't think Worcester has enough cops to rush out in response to all that will set off the system. It will be another MA city waste of funds.
 
here are all the ones i've found on the streets of New Bedford so far.....
supposedly the system works great.....
*apparently* it works by detecting the "air pressure signature" of a fired round, so, it doesn't rely on sound so much as shockwaves (sound barrier transition, etc....)

i don't know how much of that i buy....
SS.jpg


i thought about writing to city hall requesting the location of all these things......
paid for with public funds, planted on public light poles, their locations have to be public knowledge.. right?

(my house isn't far from that cluster of 7 in the lower left..... they watchin me ;) )
 
Last edited:
this system could be a could thing if it works. because once the thugs and bangers realize the police respond quickly they will start using knifes. so there could even be less gun crime which in a reasonable society could mean no new pushes for gun regulations. i can hope
 
If I remember correctly, gunshot detectors are actually quite good, and don't have false positives from backfires or fireworks.
 
milktree said:
If I remember correctly, gunshot detectors are actually quite good, and don't have false positives from backfires or fireworks.
Click to expand...

I bet the Worcester version, though, won't be the good ones. Probably be the cheapest out there, but get charged for the top of the line.
 
Springfield's been using one for a few years now. Not sure how well it works, but I do recall hearing several callouts from dispatch when listening on the scanner and they seemed to always yield negative results.
 
Interesting concept, limited utility.

I could use this up in Bedford-NH, then maybe I could find that elusive sandpit that nobody will give me directions to.
[mg]
For a city like Boston or Chicago, the "shot spotter" would be a useful map overlay, Google Maps could use the historical log to route around higher risk areas based on time of day, just like they do for traffic reports.

I don't see the value of the realtime alerts to LE, it's not as if the crooks are having running gun battles that last more than a few seconds, by the time dispatch gets anybody out to a spotted location, an ambulance would be more useful than a cop.
 
45collector said:
Those driving cars with out-of-tune carburetors better start wearing kevlar. [thinking]
Click to expand...

I don't actually have any use of the technology, I'm sure a grunt could probably chime in and tell us how often it falses; but IIRC it knows the difference between a door slam, backfire or gun shot by measuring the acoustic characteristics of the 'bang'.

technology | SST, Inc. (ShotSpotter)
 
New Bedford has had it for over a year and Fall River is partially covered now with more of the sensors going up soon. Supposedly it is able to tell the difference between gunfire, fireworks, backfires, etc. They claim it is so sensitive that if enough sensors hear it the system can narrow it down to caliber. There was an article in the fall river herald earlier this year talking about the system coming online.
 
mbz4ever said:
would be nice if it can identify make and model as well as a serial number [rofl]
Click to expand...

They'll do that when the RFID chips are installed in all guns... Although I'm sure the criminals will remove them (or deactivate them)... So some poor slob that legally owns a gun, close to where the criminal used his, will get arrested for it.

I can't see this ending well at all.
 
Golddiggie said:
They'll do that when the RFID chips are installed in all guns... Although I'm sure the criminals will remove them (or deactivate them)... So some poor slob that legally owns a gun, close to where the criminal used his, will get arrested for it.

I can't see this ending well at all.
Click to expand...

they should offer free RFID chip installation or even cash reword [rofl]
 
Because it works oh so well at making Other cities who have it safer.... Oh wait, no it doesn't.

These systems have a 0% success rate of delivering any improvements and a 100% success rate of charging unholy "maintenance" costs.
 
If we just record everything, spy on everyone, put a camera on every pole, a sensor on the corner of every block... well, we will live in a surveillance state where privacy is a thing of the past.

It never matters what is gained when individual liberty is lost. But what possible use could such a system serve? So the shot came from "over there". Is just anyone standing in the vicinity of "there" going to be searched or arrested (more liberty lost)? Shooters tend to move on, and quickly. Knowing where they were 5 minutes ago is hardly much help when everyone knows they were pretty close to the victim at the time.

Worcester isn't facing an incursion of snipers (which these systems are best designed to detect). Like most cities, its crime is focused among young male professional criminals, largely fighting the other side of the pointless "war on drugs". The source of gunfire is thus no mystery.

It is just as clear that the point of this surveillance system is intimidation and control. It will fail if attempted. And then we will hear about the next set of liberties to be traded in the hopeless attempt to control violence by forcing all of us to live like prisoners.
 
Just the fact that you need this is indicative the fact that your policing efforts have failed...
 
todd c said:
this system could be a could thing if it works. because once the thugs and bangers realize the police respond quickly they will start using knifes. so there could even be less gun crime which in a reasonable society could mean no new pushes for gun regulations. i can hope
Click to expand...
In actual fact, the bangers just make a plan to get out of the area before the police can respond.

I was apoplectic over this: I wanted every dime spent on police to prevent the shots being fired at all. Mike Ross considers this his proudest achievement as a city councilor: dolt.
 
They have this junk system in Fall River. I have not seen one instance where it has stopped a shooting in the city. Its a huge waste of money.
 
All this will do is increase the prevalence of suppressors.

Thinking...

Is it illegal to sell fake suppressors? This could be a whole new market to tap into.

Under cover cops could sell these things to the thugs in sting operations to get guns off the streets. Just get the gang bangers to show up with their Gats to get fitted with the proper size suppressor...
 

Similar threads

Article: ABC News: Firearm Confiscation Orders Part of Solution to Mass Public Attack
Replies
20
Views
2K
Lucus
Lucus
Article: Veterans Day 2017
Replies
5
Views
541
Len-2A Training
Len-2A Training
Article: 7 Mistakes Coyote Hunters Make
Replies
1
Views
471
Kevin_NH
Kevin_NH
Article: Paul Ryan Ignoring National Reciprocity for 43rd Consecutive Week
Replies
6
Views
1K
weldingmachine
W
Article: Sig Sauer Sales Event at MFS
Replies
0
Views
388
Mass Firearms
Mass Firearms
Back
Top Bottom