A gunshot detection tech company is facing criticism. Police are investing anyway.

  • 📰 NBCNews
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 43 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 21%
  • Publisher: 86%

South Africa News News

South Africa South Africa Latest News,South Africa South Africa Headlines

ShotSpotter, the country’s best-known maker of gunshot detection tech, is fighting to retain customers and draw in new ones by steering federal grants to police departments and firing back against criticism with campaigns to defend its reputation.

in Black and Latino communities. The company, which was on pace to bring in revenues of about $60 million in 2021, has spent more than $1 million on legal fees and public relations efforts, which ShotSpotter expects to wipe out any profits from last year, according to its financial statements.

ShotSpotter also advises police departments on how to respond to requests from the public and the media for records involving the company. In contracts, ShotSpotter often restricts the information police can release without asking the company first. The use of federal grants makes it easy to “throw a whole lot of money at technology,” said Matthew Guariglia, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights nonprofit group that wants cities to drop contracts with ShotSpotter. “It doesn’t matter if the stuff works or not,” he said.

ShotSpotter says its technology is accurate and helps police save lives and arrest shooters, which makes cities safer. “So we fill the gap. We provide assistance,” Sam Klepper, ShotSpotter’s senior vice president of marketing and product strategy, said in a recent interview.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Nobody in their right mind ever believed this tech was worth a damn, even though everyone wanted it to. But, that's how weak a gun culture makes it's people... Hero worship effectively becomes currency, the standard, and from there the avg. person becomes just a follower...

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 10. in ZA

South Africa South Africa Latest News, South Africa South Africa Headlines