Gunshot locator stumbles on New Year's Eve
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A $2-million device designed to track the origin of a gun shot hit
a crippling snag New Year's Eve: fireworks.
The acoustic sensors used to pinpoint the location of celebratory gunshots
couldn't immediately tell the difference between celebratory pyrotechnics, Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Killeen said.
During the first half-hour of 2000, the so-called "Shotspotter" registered 700
separate tiny explosions in South Los Angeles.
However, the police department received only 285 reports of shots fired
throughout the city during the night, police Cmdr. David Kalish said.
The device, which took five years to develop, still has a long way to go before
law enforcement can use it to nab gun-blasting revelers, Killeen said.
"We can go banging on a person's door now and say, 'We tracked seven or eight
gunshots to your front porch New Year's Eve,' but without witnesses, we can't
really arrest that individual," Killeen said.
The device will mainly be used to warn suspected violators, he said.
The Shotspotter utilizes a handful of rooftop sensors and recording devices that
respond to sharp noises. It then displays that location on a computer screen
monitored by police dispatchers.
Firing a gun into the air brings the risk that a descending bullet will kill or
injure someone.
A 12-year-old South Los Angeles boy was struck in the head shortly after
midnight by a bullet, authorities said. His injuries were not considered
life-threatening.
There have been about 4,000 incidents of such gunfire in Los Angeles over the
last seven years.
The Shotspotter is still a viable law enforcement tool despite its confusing New
Year's Eve results, said Jason Dunham, who helped develop the system's software
for Trilon Technology of Los Altos.
"This will prove very valuable during the rest of the year," Dunham said.
"Fireworks are illegal, too."
notice what the pissed off Jason Dunham says. does that mean he'll invent problems for his system to overcome?
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