Seattle City Council OKs public safety spending, rejects gunshot detection tech
The Seattle City Council passed the 2023-2024 budget Tuesday with increased public safety spending but without gunshot detection technology Mayor Bruce Harrell has been championing.
Passing with a 6-3 vote, the budget included additional funding to the Seattle Police Department as part of the mayor's recruitment and retention plan. It also included shifting the parking enforcement officers' budget back to SPD after the city had moved the officers to the Seattle Department of Transportation last year.
But Harrell's $2 million proposal for gunshot detection software — a controversial technology that uses surveillance equipment like microphones embedded in public to identify where gunshots are located — was rejected.
Aside from voicing concerns over increased surveillance in over-policed communities, critics of major gunshot detection tech companies like ShotSpotter have raised issues with its efficacy. Axios reported in April 2022 that a study in Police Chief Magazine said "police usually find no evidence of a gun crime when they respond to ShotSpotter's reports of gunshots."
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2022/12/02/seattle-city-council-public-safety-gunshot.html
