Chicago violent crime, homicides dropped after ShotSpotter removal, study finds

CHICAGO (WGN) — September will mark one year since Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson unplugged the city’s gunshot detection system known as ShotSpotter.

Chicago leaders expressed concerns that gunfire would go undetected and the elimination of the technology would slow police response. A new study from the University of Chicago, however, finds that police beats that lost ShotSpotter saw a nearly 18 percent decrease in violent crime and a 37 percent decrease in homicides.

Such stats track with the overall declines citywide, the study found.

WGN INVESTIGATES: How Shotspotter impacted a Chicago murder case

David Hackett, with the University of Chicago’s Justice Project, is a scientist and one of the study’s researchers. He joined WGN’s Evening News at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, to discuss the data report and the project’s findings.

“Ultimately, it comes down to the question of what is the purpose of using this technology?” Hackett said when asked about ShotSpotter’s effectiveness.

“Are we interested in reducing crime? And if we’re going to spend millions of dollars on something a year, we do want to see that it is having a positive impact on crime and gun violence.”

Readers may access the UChicago Justice Project’s data report by clicking here.

Watch the entire interview in the video player above.