Oakland committee OK's extending controversial ShotSpotter contract
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Public Safety Committee on Tuesday approved a new contract for the controversial ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology after hours of debate.
Oakland police have used the system since 2006 and the contract expired in June.
ShotSpotter will cost $2.5 million to renew the contract for three years.
Retired Oakland Police Capt. Ersie Joyner spoke in favor of renewing the contract. He credits the technology with saving his life in 2022 after he was shot nine or 10 times while he was filling up gas at the Chevron station at 17th and Castro streets.
He said he remembered lying on the ground but didn't see anyone call 911. Police arrived quickly, however, because they heard the gunfire on ShotSpotter.
"So when people oversimplify and ask [whether] this worth it, let me just ask you. How much would it be worth to have a loved one saved because officers were able to respond, render aid, and get them to the hospital in time?" Joyner asked rhetorically in an interview on Wednesday. "Then that will be your answer.
At the meeting, Joyner said that the system was never designed to "singularly reduce crime or increase arrests."
Rather, he said what the system does "extremely well" is enhance "tactical and timely response to gunfire." He also said the system, when used right, can make police and community relations "more robust" if the data is shared publicly.
Ersie Joyner 'humbled and humanized' after surviving 22 bullet wounds in Oakland shootout
Ersie Joyner, a 52-year-old retired Oakland police captain, was the survivor of an armed robbery at a Chevron gas station, which left his body riddled with 22 bullet wounds. He also ended up killing one of his attackers. It was the most traumatizing experience in his life. And now, he says he is changed forever.
Critics, however, say ShotSpotter is not effective and they claim it pulls police away from responding to 911 calls.
Brian Hofer, executive director of Secure Justice and chair of Oakland's Privacy Advisory Commission, said OPD's own data shows a false-positive rate of between 70% to 80% and the number of arrests related to ShotSpotter total less than 10 annually.
He said this causes police to race out to scenes which aren't really emergencies, and creates an artifical workload for them.
"When we see a store on Hegenberger that is being flashmob robbed and OPD doesn't show up for twi days, it is because they're responding to a false ShotSpotter alert," Hofer asked aloud in an interview on Wednesday.
The money on the ShotSpotter contract, Hofer said, would be better spent elsewhere.
"ShotSpotter diverting resources has led to the loss of life," Hofer said at the hearing. "It has led to millions of dollars in property crime. It has led to millions of dollars in small businesses suffering from damages and break-ins."
Other cities around the country, like Chicago earlier this year, have stopped using ShotSpotter because of its flaws.
The system, which relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and network of microphones to identify gunshots, has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse. An Associated Press investigation of the technology detailed how police and prosecutors used ShotSpotter data as evidence in charging a Chicago grandfather with murder before a judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence.
And a city audit in New York released in June found that ShotSpotter was sending police officers to respond to loud noises that don’t turn out to be confirmed shootings 87 percent of the time.
The full Oakland City Council will take up the matter on Tuesday.