Detroit City Council narrowly votes to renew ShotSpotter gunshot detection contract despite opposition

The Detroit City Council on Tuesday narrowly voted to renew the city’s contract with SoundThinking for its ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.

The decision will allow the California-based company to continue providing crime-fighting technology through the end of March 2027. 

The system will deploy acoustic sensors mounted above city streets to detect gunfire-like sounds and automatically alert law enforcement when a suspected shot is fired.

According to Michigan Advance, the measure passed by a 5–4 vote, with several councilmembers and critics citing high costs and privacy concerns during Tuesday’s hearing.

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Council President James Tate, who has historically supported ShotSpotter in Detroit, reportedly opposed the renewal, arguing that the $2.1 million price tag was difficult to justify. 

"I have a challenge with that dollar amount. It’s not about the technology," Tate said. 

"When asked, would they renegotiate the contract, the answer was no, because we’ve been giving you a deal in the first place, so that leads me now to a situation where I cannot support this particular amendment."

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Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who voted against the measure, said her opposition stemmed from a lack of data showing the technology’s effectiveness, Michigan Advance reported. 

"Frankly, I still have not heard enough support from the public, have not seen data that shows that this is working for the cost and that it’s actually protecting our information," Santiago-Romero said. 

Gabrielle Dresner, a policy strategist for the ACLU of Michigan who testified against the extension, said false alerts can lead to unnecessary police responses and reinforce perceptions that minority communities are inherently dangerous, according to the outlet.

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Critics also questioned whether acoustic microphones monitoring public spaces could amount to a form of surveillance, as well as who would have access to any audio data collected. 

However, the ShotSpotter technology has reported successful cases.

According to Assistant Chief Franklin Hayes, a ShotSpotter alert on Detroit’s west side led officers to a gunshot victim who was found alive in a case where no one had made a 911 call, Michigan Advance said. 

The technology has drawn public controversy since Detroit first signed a contract covering certain police precincts in 2020, and again in late 2022.