Houston extends deal with ShotSpotter: 'These are neighborhoods that have a lot of challenges that result in violence'

Houston’s city council overwhelmingly approved a $3.5 million contract for gunshot technology in the city that some say is a waste of city funds.

The five-year agreement with ShotSpotter ensures that various areas of the city will continue to utilize its acoustic sensors to detect and locate gunfire. The program, according to ABC 13, has been used in the city since 2019. When gunfire is detected an alert is sent to acoustic experts for review to decide whether law enforcement should be dispatched. ShotSpotter is currently used in 122 cities and counties, including Harris County, according to the program’s website.

All but one council member voted in favor of continuing the agreement. The vote came after a vote was delayed in December by Council Member Mike Knox, who wanted more data.

A review of the program in December indicated the program helped HPD receive more than 2,300 alerts involving 8,600 gunshots. It led to 54 arrests and 16 gunshot victims. Officers also attested that the program helped them discover 1,700 cartridges that could be evidence in other crimes, and to the recovery of 40 guns.

Yet, ShotSpotter has its share of critics, citing false positives that put police and civilians in danger, and an overabundance of deployment in black and brown communities. Others suggest the $3.5 million can be better served by addressing root issues of gun violence.

“These are neighborhoods that have a lot of challenges that result in violence,” Katya Abazajian, an organizer with the Houston Abolitionists Collective told ABC 13. “But we don’t see this band-aid of a technology as addressing any of those actual challenges.”

Letitia Plummer voted the lone council member not to approve the contract, saying she hasn’t seen any data to indicate the technology would lead to safer communities. 

"I think that if we took the $3.5 million and invested in communities and made living conditions better, I think that we would see homicides go down,” she said.

District B Councilmember Tarsha Jackson sounded like she was a reluctant supporter of continuing the program. 

"We know it's not going to stop the gunfire," she told a constituent. "But, I want you to be comfortable in your bed knowing that someone is paying attention to the shooting in your neighborhood. So I will support this because you guys want it."

County officials allocated nearly $15 million in 2020 to update law enforcement technology including an expansion to the county’s use of ShotSpotter. The city’s pilot was set to expire at the end of December.