ShotSpotter credited with detecting 1,000 gunshots

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE ShotSpotter gunshot detection system has detected over 1,000 gunshots to date, thus improving police response time, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday.

Mr Dames said over 1,200 gunshots have been detected as a result of the gunfire location system. One of those incidents, Mr Dames said, involved a man who had robbed a woman at gunpoint and had decided to “fire a few shots”. That alerted the police, who, upon their arrival at the scene ended up killing the suspect.

In addition to that incident, and contrary to earlier criticism by the opposition party, Mr Dames said the ShotSpotter system has provided officers with a “greater chance” of identifying perpetrators and getting medical care to victims.

He said the system is assisting the RBPF’s crime analysts with identifying new hot spots for gun activity, inclusive of the time and day of the week, thus allowing police commanders to “shift their resources accordingly”.

Mr Dames added that by the end of this month, the government will sign a contract worth $6,963,853 with a “global industry leader” to provide the RBPF with body and dash cameras.

That comes after the government signed a $5.9m contract with Proficient Business Services for an additional 507 cameras to further expand the government’s closed-circuit television system last October.

Of that number, 100 cameras will be equipped with licence plate recognition capabilities, and another will feature facial recognition capabilities, Mr Dames said. Another 120 will have pan tilt zone capabilities.

It also came after the government signed a $17m contract with the California-based Swift Systems for a multi-agency drone programme. Mr Dames said that technology will be used to combat crime, as well as migrant, drug and firearm smuggling.

Mr Dames also announced that the government is “exploring” the implementation of tasers to “add to the use of force options” available to police officers. He said law enforcement officials will meet with officials from the Axon company this month to determine the viability of tasers in the Bahamas.

Mr Dames explained that all of those technological advancements will be centralised in a new “real time crime centre” that will provide field officers as well as detectives “instant information” that will allow them to identify patterns and prevent emerging crime trends. Mr Dames said the crime centre is currently under construction at Police Headquarters, and will be completed within the first quarter of this year.

Mr Dames also revealed that the second phase of the expansion of the RBPF’s fleet of vehicles is “just about complete”, as the 35 new police cruisers, SUVs, T-3 Segways and ATV’s will be hitting the streets across the Bahamas within the first quarter of this year.

“As you can see, policing in 2020 and beyond will not be business as usual,” Mr Dames said. “Guided by the Manpower Audit, the (RBPF) is being modernised and restructured.

“In 2020 and beyond, technology will play a vital role in further reducing the level of crime. Investments in the latest and greatest police technology and equipment have been ongoing and are another key component in supporting the professionalization of our armed forces.”

Last year, the government signed a $1.9m contract with a technology provider, ShotSpotter in an effort for law enforcement agencies to pinpoint the location of gunfire.

Both Mr Dames and Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the new programme highlighted their commitment to modernising crime fighting tools and equipping agencies with the latest technologies.

The technology, implemented in undisclosed areas across New Providence, is strategically placed “outside, in open areas, above the roadways, above ambient noise,” according to ShotSpotter senior project manager Kent McIntire.

At the time, Mr Dames said he had “completed sufficient research” and is satisfied the technology will help reduce the high gun related violence in The Bahamas.

In July 2019, Progressive Liberal Party Leader Phillip “Brave” Davis criticised the government’s investment in the system following a mass shooting in the Montel Heights community.

At the time, Mr Davis said the system was a bad investment, and questioned how ShotSpotter aided in preventing “that horrific event” from happening. Mr Davis further stated that the government ought to have invested in “prevention rather than detection”.

Comments

birdiestrachan says...

What good is it if the person has been shot or has died??

There is the quote " Those whom the devil seek t0 destroy he makes angry first"
or should we say mad.

Sir you appear to be a very angry. vengeful man

Posted 6 January 2020, 6:43 p.m. Suggest removal

mckenziecpa says...

This FNM government is the second coming for the tremendous job they are doing for this country. The good Lord himself send them to rescue the Bahamas from Nigerian run government. I am saying this objectively I am neither party just an observatory looking in.

Posted 6 January 2020, 7:08 p.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Did Marvin Dames mean the shot spotter detected 1,200 shots since its inception or for the year? If for the year that’s an average of four shots per day being detected and about 12.5 shots for every murder that has taken place. And if it sounds ridiculous, maybe because it is. One officer says that fireworks interfere with the system and creat false alarms. But to think 4 shots being fired a day is troubling.

Posted 6 January 2020, 7:27 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Too bad comrade security minister, had've thought use up the colony's **$13 million** to have first invested in body cams for all his members Royal Constabulary to wear, and to equip all police vehicles with dashboard cams .... **wow, imaging the ugliness thugging up members PopoulacesOrdinary them cameras could've captured during 2019** - likes lots more the couple guns being fired..... **1200 sounds gunshots detected, could've, night've very well come from no more than just a handful guns being discharged.** Your account how the 1200 gunshots came about is somewhat misleading **right, minister?**

Posted 6 January 2020, 9:06 p.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Most of the shots detected were shots by the police, especially at their firing practice range. LMAO

Posted 7 January 2020, 9:25 a.m. Suggest removal

birdiestrachan says...

Murders increased in 2019 in spite of No Games. spot shooters. there were two murders
hours apart that never made the front pages of the news papers..in 2020

Posted 7 January 2020, 10:34 a.m. Suggest removal

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