The City of Cape Town's fight against gun violence may soon rely heavily on tech, as it tests ShotSpotter - a system that detects firearm activity, pinpoints its origin and then alerts police.
ShotSpotter has been on trial in Hanover Park for around three weeks, according to the city's mayoral committee member alderman JP Smith. Should the city give it the go-ahead, it would be integrated into the police's crime-fighting and prevention initiatives.
Earlier this month, it was also deployed on trial in the Kruger National Park in a bid to combat rhino poaching.
According to SST - the US-based company that owns ShotSpotter - the system uses multiple, collaborating sensors to calculate the geo-location of the gunfire. It can cover tens of square kilometres, and it detects attacks from any direction and weapons fired within 360-degrees relative to the sensor.
Incidents and trends are tracked on a database that is compiled as soon as the system is live in any particular area. Several police departments in the US are already using the system, says SST, including Oakland, Milwaukee and South Bend.
The company notes the system aims to assist police to use their resources more strategically. "Since each gunfire alert passes through several filters, including validation by highly trained experts, responding and investigative officers can be assured that every ShotSpotter alert is indeed an emergency and forensically sound," SST adds.
Share