Mayor Walsh Announces Activation of Gunshot Detection System
Published on March 01, 2022
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner announced the City’s gunshot detection system, ShotSpotter, will go live on Syracuse’s north side on Wednesday, Mar. 2. The system detects and locates gunshot activity and automatically alerts the Syracuse Police Department to enable faster and more precise response to incidents.
The system will now cover an additional 2.1 square mile area, representing most of Syracuse’s northwest and northeast sides, an area stretching from near Onondaga Lake to Teall Avenue. The protection was already in place in large parts of the south, west and east sides of the city. The $171,000 expansion of the system is funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) pandemic relief.
“When a gunshot occurs, it’s a frightening and dangerous experience for neighborhoods. Having a faster and more accurate police response to where shots occurs helps our residents feel safer and enables the police to investigate what happened more effectively,” said Mayor Walsh. “Investing in public safety is a high priority for ARPA funding. ShotSpotter expansion will help make the north side and the rest of the city safer.”
“ShotSpotter is a useful tool for the Syracuse Police Department. We can pin point where the shots fired are occurring in our city and then deploy police resources to the communities that need it most,” said Chief Buckner. “We anticipate that our shots fired occurrence will increase with this new coverage area and residents should be aware of that when reviewing our CompStat report which can be found on our website.”
The Syracuse Common Council authorized expansion of ShotSpotter to the north side last fall. Syracuse Police expedited planning and installation of the system over the winter. The City has authorized about $72 million in pandemic relief spending, including investments in children, families and neighborhoods; infrastructure and public spaces; jobs and economic opportunity; and government response and resilience. More information on pandemic relief spending is available on the City’s ARPA Dashboard.