New York, NY (January 9, 2025)—In case you missed it, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, Chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Technology, authored a powerful op-ed in amNewYork this week, outlining the critical flaws of ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system currently used by the NYPD. The 10-year contract is currently up for renewal. 

The op-ed draws on findings from reports by the NYC Comptroller and Brooklyn Defender Services, both of which expose ShotSpotter’s high rate of false alerts, inefficiency, and its disproportionate harm to Black and Latine communities. Over 83% of alerts during the system’s nine-year tenure were determined to be false, wasting police resources and enabling racially biased over-policing.

“The data speaks for itself: this technology is unreliable, cost-inefficient, and causes real harm,” Gutiérrez said. “We cannot continue to spend millions of dollars on a system that fails to protect our communities and instead puts them at greater risk.”

Highlighting that cities like Chicago have already abandoned ShotSpotter, Gutiérrez’s op-ed makes a strong case for NYC to follow suit and prioritize solutions that foster real safety and equity.

To read the full op-ed, visit AMNY.

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