What to Know Today
Preliminary data suggests that gun violence is falling in 2022. Crime analyst Jeff Asher examined year-to-date data from over 90 cities, and found that murders have decreased about 4 percent since 2021. The researcher also found that shootings dropped in 18 of the 25 cities with available data. Asher cautioned that the data doesn’t paint a complete picture.
ShotSpotter claims police don’t know the locations of its audio sensors. Internal emails suggest otherwise. The controversial gunshot-detection company shared the addresses where it was hoping to install sensors with the New York Police Department, emails obtained by the Legal Aid Society and reviewed by Bloomberg News show. ShotSpotter then worked with the NYPD over a two-month period to install sensors in a Manhattan precinct. Advocates say the collaboration raises serious privacy concerns: ShotSpotter microphones are always listening, and a Massachusetts court found that the sensors can pick up hushed conversations.
Get the Bulletin in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletters here.Two teenagers killed in Chicago school shooting. Two others were wounded in the shooting at Benito Suarez High School, on the city’s West Side, shortly after the school day ended Friday. The shooting — at least the third at a Chicago public school to take place during dismissal this year, according to Block Club Chicago — came two days after the 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook. The county medical examiner’s office identified the slain teenagers as Nathan Billegas, 14, and Brandon Perez, 15.
Baltimore plans expansion to flagship gun violence prevention program — but it may leave out a key partner. After a year of piloting the Group Violence Reduction Strategy, The Baltimore Banner reports, officials called it a remarkable success. But at last week’s news conference announcing the expansion, there was a noticeable absence: Roca Maryland, one of two service providers in the city, said the GVRS told the group that it would no longer receive referrals from the program, with no explanation for the decision. The long game: Violence can break out in a matter of seconds, but Roca measures success in years, J. Brian Charles reported for The Trace last year.
Former Texas police officer found guilty of manslaughter in killing of Atatiana Jefferson. Aaron Dean, who is white, shot and killed Jefferson, a Black woman, through a window in her Fort Worth home in 2019. Jefferson had been playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew. NBC News reports that Dean, who could have been convicted of murder, faces two to 20 years in prison.
Data Point
2.5 percent — the decline in firearm homicides in 2022 compared with the same period last year. [Jeff Asher / Gun Violence Archive]
