Chicago City Council members let the contract for gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter expire after it was revealed it took nearly nine hours for police to respond to a shooting incident, according to NBC 5 Chicago on Monday. He criticized Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson for this.
17th Ward Alderman David Moore slammed Johnson's decision on Monday, saying ShotSpotter would have shortened the Chicago Police Department's response time to the murder of Sierra Evans. , he said. Mr Evans said he was likely killed between 11:45pm and 12pm CDT. Saturday night or Sunday morning at 3:00 a.m. CDT, but the body was not discovered until 9:30 a.m. CDT on Sunday. According to NBC 5 to Chicago. Johnson's contract with ShotSpotter expired on September 23, saying he would look for an alternative to the system. According to Go to ABC7.
“Instead of residents discovering the body several hours later, gunshots would have alerted CPD to multiple gunshots at 12:06 a.m., and CPD would have issued an alert less than 30 seconds after shots were detected. '' Moore told NBC 5 Chicago. . “While politics in this city try to minimize this tragedy, I will not remain silent. This is about saving lives. 9 1/2 hours after ShotSpotter alert was sent, I will not remain silent. It's heartbreaking to find out.” (Related: Chicago splurges on police overtime amid massive staffing shortage)
Chicago Police Department officers investigate the scene of a fatal shooting of a man on the Near West Side in Chicago, Illinois, on July 2, 2017. (Photo by Joshua Lott/AFP via Getty Images)
According to NBC 5 Chicago, Moore said Councilman Peter Chico contacted ShotSpotter to confirm that the company had received a report of the shooting. However, according to ABC 7, CPD is no longer able to use the equipment due to the expiration of its contract and work is currently underway to remove the equipment.
According to NBC 5 Chicago, Evan's uncle, Mark Abrams, said Evan's life may have been saved if the ShotSpotter had still been used for CPD. Evan's friends held a vigil in her memory Monday night.
“Detectives don't know if she was murdered there or elsewhere, but she was killed between 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 a.m. and nine hours later a neighbor “He said he came to feed him and noticed the body,” so he called police,” Abrams told NBC 5 Chicago. “…Because the neighbors or the police would have been there in seconds. I feel like the mayor needs to step up and bring back the ShotSpotters, not just in the East region, but all over the city. It's time for the mayor to take some action.”
According to ABC 7, a majority of City Council members wanted to continue using ShotSpotter in Chicago, but Johnson vetoed the bill. Retirement is scheduled to occur within 60 days from September 23, and no replacement technology has been proposed at this time.
According to ABC 7, Johnson said he needed a “more effective strategy” than ShotSpotter and would consider other options to “save more lives.” Mr Johnson also defended the city's “downtrend in crime”.
Chicago led the nation in murders for the 12th year in a row, with 617 murders in 2023, followed by Philadelphia with 408. According to To the wire point. Overall crime increased by 15% from 2022 to 2024 and by 57% from 2021. According to For city data.
The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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