Sensors are helping El Paso police detect gunshot incidents
EL PASO, Texas-- You may not have known it, but for the last couple of months gunshots sensors have been an extra set of ears for the El Paso Police Department, allowing them to respond faster to these calls.
The city got these sensors last year from a company called ShotSpotter, joining a list of cities like Chicago, Oakland, and Albuquerque. These devices work similar to ring cameras, which are activated with sound.
"They're currently deployed to various areas of the city," said Sgt. Enrique Carrillo from EPPD, "and they're at locations where we've had the highest incidents of 'shots fired' calls."
Sensors listen for loud impulsive sounds that a computer identifies as gunfire, the sounds are then sent to a review center for people to analyze the audio to see if they match the typical sound of gunfire.
"So they're able to screen to see if they are actual suspected gunshots and from there they're able to dispatch the units." said Sgt. Carrillo.
Several monitors will pick up the suspicious sound, and depending on how long it took to get to each individual sensor, they can pin-point the exact location where the suspected shots are coming from. Sensor data is also sent directly to officers through their smart-phones.
Typically the entire process will take less than a minute.
"So that cuts the time in the response time," Sgt. Carrillo added, "and officers are dispatched directly as the event is actually happening and not having to be routed through communications."
The technology can also help investigators determine if there are multiple shooters, and if there is an automatic weapon involved.
