Chicago’s ShotSpotter sensors shut down in September, but its future in the city remains unclear. For months, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council have been engaged in an intense political fight over Johnson’s plan to sunset the use of the controversial gunshot detection technology. Last week, Johnson kicked the issue down the road, deciding not to veto an ordinance that would compel the city to sign a new contract for the technology; the Office of the Mayor said the ordinance isn’t enforceable. As The Trace’s Justin Agrelo reported in July, the conflict over ShotSpotter is focused on who has the authority to make decisions over its use — not over the benefits and drawbacks of the technology.
While the mayor and council play out their power struggle, a new analysis of public data by South Side Weekly and Type Investigations found that ShotSpotter routinely missed reported shootings. Per the city’s contract, the sensors are required to detect at least 90 percent of outdoor, unsuppressed gunfire above a .25 caliber. The outlets’ analysis indicated that “ShotSpotter did not alert Chicago police to more than 20% of the shootings and reckless firearm discharges that occurred within its coverage area between January 2023 and August 2024,” thus raising questions about the fulfillment of its contractual obligations.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Transit Authority has already moved on: Through a $200,000 pilot, CTA is adding security measure ZeroEyes, a software that uses artificial intelligence and human analysis to scan surveillance footage and alert police to the presence of guns. Though the Philadelphia-based company tried and failed to launch in its hometown, the CTA is eager to test out the technology, saying its cameras are better equipped to handle it.
But in the aftermath of ShotSpotter, Agrelo reported last week, the ZeroEyes CTA pilot is raising familiar concerns about the effectiveness and ethics of using surveillance to try to stem shootings.
From The Trace
- Chicago Trades One Controversial Gun Surveillance Technology for Another: As the city ended its relationship with ShotSpotter, the Chicago Transit Authority began piloting another gun detection tool called ZeroEyes. There are familiar concerns about its effectiveness.
- Kamala Harris’s Comments About Gun Ownership Belie the Risks, Researchers Say: Studies have consistently found that having a gun at home increases a person’s risk of homicide, suicide, and accidental shootings.
- Pennsylvania Health Care Workers Unite in Call for Stronger Gun Policies: A newly formed coalition says the recent drop in shootings masks the state’s enduring gun violence crisis.
- A Gun Law the NRA Opposes Could Have Saved Its Employee’s Life: The National Rifle Association once supported red flag gun laws, which are meant to protect people like Dawn Williams-Stewart, a staffer who was shot and killed by her husband.
What to Know Today
Far-right extremists have made a habit of responding to disasters, often using them as an opportunity to recruit, burnish their image, and sow distrust in the government. The Oath Keepers went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey; armed right-wing vigilantes set up checkpoints in Oregon during a 2020 wildfire; and members of a militia were on the scene of the 2022 school massacre in Uvalde, Texas. Hurricane Helene is no exception: White supremacists are showing up in Florida and North Carolina, where they’re amplifying falsehoods about the government’s response. [The Wall Street Journal]
A person’s ZIP code could indicate their risk of being shot and killed by police, according to a new study by scholars from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and the University of Maryland. Researchers analyzed 6,901 fatal police shootings between 2015 and 2022 across ZIP codes that had publicly available demographic, socioeconomic, and police shooting data, accounting for 79 percent of all U.S. ZIP codes. Their findings “reflect the intersection of social vulnerability, race, and geography,” said the study’s lead author, “and highlight the urgent need to address the structural inequities that disproportionately place communities of color and socially vulnerable populations at higher risk.” [American Journal of Preventive Medicine]
A campaign office shared by Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party in Tempe, Arizona, has been damaged by gunfire three times in less than a month. No one has been injured in the shootings, and police are seeking information about a suspect. [ABC]
Kimberly Burrell is a lifelong Democrat and gun violence prevention worker who lost her son to a shooting 15 years ago. So she was surprised to see an out-of-context clip of herself — from an interview that was mostly about gun violence — appear in a political action committee’s ad for former President Donald Trump without her consent. Burrell, who plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, says she’s continually asked the PAC to take the ad down, to no avail. At a recent news conference, she read a letter asking Trump himself to intervene. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Sheriff’s “posses” — volunteer assistants to sheriff’s offices who aren’t overseen by state regulators — are fairly common across the rural West. But the posse in Klickitat County, a sparsely populated stretch of Washington state, stands apart: Its leader, Bob Songer, is a key figure in the “constitutional sheriffs” movement who’s promised to call on his volunteers to fight back should any higher agencies attempt to confiscate civilians’ weapons. [InvestigateWest]
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to weigh in on whether the Mexican government can sue some of America’s biggest gun manufacturers. Among the gunmakers’ allies at the high court: Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican facing a tougher-than-expected reelection battle. Cruz helped spearhead an amicus brief arguing that gun industry profits are essential to protecting the Second Amendment. Since June, a gun industry super PAC has spent $630,000 on boosting his campaign. [Rolling Stone]
Sangamon County, Illinois, is piloting a new statewide plan to send clinicians to mental health emergencies instead of police. The change was prompted by the July police killing of Sonya Massey — but even proponents of the move aren’t sure it would have prevented her death. [WBEZ]
Data Point
$942,740 — the amount of money Ted Cruz has received from gun rights interests over the course of his time in the Senate. [OpenSecrets/Rolling Stone]
Non Sequitur
The Distant Origins of a Stonehenge Stone: Stonehenge is an enigma. It’s not certain why it was built, and the rocks used to construct it thousands of years ago came from miles away. Now, researchers have determined where one of the monument’s largest, most mysterious stones originated. Hint: The distance is longer than Rhode Island. [The Conversation]