4 ms·

Many citizens can't tell the difference between gunshots and other explosive sounds like fireworks.

by tdeck 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tolbish 5y ago
If ShotSpotter can't either then it effectively useless.
- sneak 5y ago
  It's not useless, sometimes it can be used to fuel a prosecution against an innocent person who happens to be a racial minority. Police locking up black people in America is the reason police in America were created.
  - gunapologist99 5y ago
    > Police locking up black people in America is the reason police in America were created. Formal policing in America has a long and sometimes infamous history, but it definitely did not begin with "locking up black people"; it varied based on the locale. For example, in NYC, it goes back to the Tammany Hall days and was notoriously corrupt. In the west (where there were very few black people, and those that were there were free), police forces began with various marshals and sheriffs who were hired, typically by the merchants, to tame the wild western towns. According to Time, "The first publicly funded, organized police force with officers on duty full-time was created in Boston in 1838." https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/ https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
    - mplewis 5y ago
      The Boston police were started to defend the rights of property owners, not citizens. In the South, post-Civil War, police used gold star badges because they were adapted from the gold star badges used by slave patrols. You should learn more about the history of policing in America: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-american-police-and-the-ku-klux-klan/id1373812661?i=1000479236210 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-america...
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - Clubber 5y ago
      >In the west (where there were very few black people According to Smithsonian Magazine, 1 in 4 cowboys were black. I suspect popular culture (movies) are what's to blame for this misconception. Many fled to the West after the Civil War to find work. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-...
- tdeck 5y ago
  If I remember correctly from a radio story, the police can listen to a recording of the shot report before investigating to confirm it sounds like a gun.
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  My local PD tells me it can tell the difference, but they're also pretty well-known liars.
dylan604 5y ago
Maybe it gets harder around june/july/new years, but the rest of the year has very little firework activity.
- timbargo 5y ago
  I live in Chicago. We have fireworks year round, some neighborhoods more often than others. Usually you will hear fireworks far more frequently than you hear gunshots.
- panopticon 5y ago
  I think that depends on the city/neighborhood. We heard fireworks pretty regularly throughout the year when we lived in San Jose. And they became more frequent after the Flyod protests. On the flip side, we heard far more gunshots than fireworks when we lived in Kansas City.

Many citizens can't tell the difference between gunshots and other explosive sounds like fireworks.

by tdeck 5y ago

Many citizens can't tell the difference between gunshots and other explosive sounds like fireworks.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

tolbish 5y ago

If ShotSpotter can't either then it effectively useless.

sneak 5y ago
It's not useless, sometimes it can be used to fuel a prosecution against an innocent person who happens to be a racial minority. Police locking up black people in America is the reason police in America were created.
- gunapologist99 5y ago
  > Police locking up black people in America is the reason police in America were created. Formal policing in America has a long and sometimes infamous history, but it definitely did not begin with "locking up black people"; it varied based on the locale. For example, in NYC, it goes back to the Tammany Hall days and was notoriously corrupt. In the west (where there were very few black people, and those that were there were free), police forces began with various marshals and sheriffs who were hired, typically by the merchants, to tame the wild western towns. According to Time, "The first publicly funded, organized police force with officers on duty full-time was created in Boston in 1838." https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/ https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
  - mplewis 5y ago
    The Boston police were started to defend the rights of property owners, not citizens. In the South, post-Civil War, police used gold star badges because they were adapted from the gold star badges used by slave patrols. You should learn more about the history of policing in America: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-american-police-and-the-ku-klux-klan/id1373812661?i=1000479236210 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-america...
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - Clubber 5y ago
    >In the west (where there were very few black people According to Smithsonian Magazine, 1 in 4 cowboys were black. I suspect popular culture (movies) are what's to blame for this misconception. Many fled to the West after the Civil War to find work. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-african-american-cowboys-180962144/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesser-known-history-...
tdeck 5y ago
If I remember correctly from a radio story, the police can listen to a recording of the shot report before investigating to confirm it sounds like a gun.
micromacrofoot 5y ago
My local PD tells me it can tell the difference, but they're also pretty well-known liars.

dylan604 5y ago

Maybe it gets harder around june/july/new years, but the rest of the year has very little firework activity.

timbargo 5y ago
I live in Chicago. We have fireworks year round, some neighborhoods more often than others. Usually you will hear fireworks far more frequently than you hear gunshots.
panopticon 5y ago
I think that depends on the city/neighborhood. We heard fireworks pretty regularly throughout the year when we lived in San Jose. And they became more frequent after the Flyod protests. On the flip side, we heard far more gunshots than fireworks when we lived in Kansas City.