Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many believed ShotSpotter to be a slam dunk. But, passage of the agreement, which is up for debate at Tuesday’s Springfield City Council meeting, is less certain as council members weigh the merits of SpotSpotter technology with its cost.
Under the proposed three-year agreement, which was discussed by council members in committee last week, the city would pay ShotSpotter, Inc. $838,750 to use the technology — $286,250 this year and $276,250 each of the next two years.
The hefty price tag has some aldermen thinking twice about the investment. Though $150,000 was included for the technology in last year’s budget along with $85,000 in the current year’s budget, council members said the pandemic has forced them to think about what the city’s true priorities are.
Adding to the uncertainty, HSHS St. John’s Hospital, which pledged $50,000 for each year of the agreement, and Memorial Health System, which pledged at least $50,000, have pulled their funding commitments for this year, citing the financial strain brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some council members, namely Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer, would like to follow suit.
“I was the first alderman to name the ShotSpotter as a spending item that needed elimination due to the new dire city financial circumstances,” McMenamin said. “The reasons for voting no have grown since.”
However, Mayor Jim Langfelder contended that “now’s not the time to pull back” and that it “is a project worthy of funding.”
To save the initiative, which has long been viewed as a critical feature in the Springfield Police Department’s larger plan to reduce gun violence, the city opened discussions with ShotSpotter, Inc. late last week about finding an alternative financial arrangement to help negate some of the upfront cost.
Details on the possible arrangement, which would reduce the cost the city immediately owes, were still being worked out over the weekend. Langfelder said language could be finalized by Monday.
He said he hoped the possible changes would be enough “to make it palatable for enough city council members to move in that direction.”
The technology — currently in use in cities like Chicago, Peoria and Rockford — utilizes a series of acoustic sensors to detect and pinpoint the origin of gunfire within a 25 meter radius, providing real-time information to police officers responding on the ground.
The sensors were installed earlier this year throughout a 4.25-square mile section of Springfield’s east side, where a disproportionate amount of the city’s gun violence occurs.
Police Chief Kenny Winslow said the department would be ready to “flip the switch” and activate the technology once the final agreement between the city and ShotSpotter, Inc. is approved.
Winslow said the technology would be a “force multiplier” for the department, providing real-time information, including the number of shooters and type of weapon being used, immediately to the computers and mobile devices of Springfield police officers.
He said it would also lead to quicker response times, which may allow officers to talk with more witnesses or even apprehend suspects.
And, perhaps most crucially, Winslow said SPD will have a more true accounting of how many shots are fired within that geographic area. Other departments that have implemented the technology found they only had a 20% to 30% reporting rate, Winslow said.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 