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Does this technology have a slippery slope? Assuming that the technology isn't useful for recording conversations, what's the worst that could happen by impleme

Does this technology have a slippery slope? Assuming that the technology isn't useful for recording conversations, what's the worst that could happen by implementing this in residential neighborhoods?

jagermo 11y ago
As far as I see it you waste money that could be better used in staffing police, implementing social programs etc - this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls. As far as I can see this does not help with robberies, burglaries, attacks with fists/knives/bats etc. Even if its not a slippery slope - I'd imagine there are several better alternatives where you can spend the money.
- detaro 11y ago
  > this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls I wondered how big a problem this is, but the only number I quickly could find is annoyingly from their advertising material and claims that in some areas only 10 % of shots were reported, which is not really the relevant number. Does anyone have a number on how many people die of gunshot injuries that either weren't reported or reported to late?
  - CHY872 11y ago
    That's also not the relevant number. In places like Chicago, what you end up with is a tiny proportion of the population (say 2000) that is perhaps 100 times more likely to be murdered and is a major drain on your city's image. This is fuelled by revenge killings; someone gets shot or shot at, their family/friends round up the posse. So what you want to do is get people off the street before they start shooting, or if that fails, you get them off the street as soon as they start shooting in order to break the cycle. At the moment, with the dispatching of officers etc, you find that it takes about 2 minutes from receiving a call to an officer being dispatched (that's from the London Ambulance Service). A lot of this is just the time between the call arriving and the operator working out where the person is. Before the call, there are perhaps 15 seconds where the bystander who calls up is getting their phone out and dialing. In this case, with the new system you can in principle have two squad cars each half a mile away knowing where the gunshot is to a reasonable level of accuracy, perhaps within a couple of seconds of the shot itself. Within a minute of the first shot, the police can be on the scene. In this case, the suspects have only just jumped into their cars, and so are picked up easily. There's no opportunity for any kind of revenge, because the suspects are in a cell. Of course it's not a fantastic idea for every city; but if you're a company that focuses on military hardware, filtering off into LA, Chicago and NY can easily be an advantage for all.
- breischl 11y ago
  >>this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls. That's not exactly true. When people call in gunshots they frequently have at best a vague idea where the shots came from. If you're sitting in your house with the window open, the shots will most likely sound as if they came from that direction - even if they were actually in the opposite direction. So you could be sending the police to a place 6 blocks away, which in a dense urban environment is quite a long ways indeed. Being able to reliably figure out the actual location has value. source: we have lots of gunshots in our neighborhood. Police response and ability to actually catch people has gone up since the spotter was installed.

jagermo 11y ago

As far as I see it you waste money that could be better used in staffing police, implementing social programs etc - this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls. As far as I can see this does not help with robberies, burglaries, attacks with fists/knives/bats etc. Even if its not a slippery slope - I'd imagine there are several better alternatives where you can spend the money.

detaro 11y ago
> this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls I wondered how big a problem this is, but the only number I quickly could find is annoyingly from their advertising material and claims that in some areas only 10 % of shots were reported, which is not really the relevant number. Does anyone have a number on how many people die of gunshot injuries that either weren't reported or reported to late?
- CHY872 11y ago
  That's also not the relevant number. In places like Chicago, what you end up with is a tiny proportion of the population (say 2000) that is perhaps 100 times more likely to be murdered and is a major drain on your city's image. This is fuelled by revenge killings; someone gets shot or shot at, their family/friends round up the posse. So what you want to do is get people off the street before they start shooting, or if that fails, you get them off the street as soon as they start shooting in order to break the cycle. At the moment, with the dispatching of officers etc, you find that it takes about 2 minutes from receiving a call to an officer being dispatched (that's from the London Ambulance Service). A lot of this is just the time between the call arriving and the operator working out where the person is. Before the call, there are perhaps 15 seconds where the bystander who calls up is getting their phone out and dialing. In this case, with the new system you can in principle have two squad cars each half a mile away knowing where the gunshot is to a reasonable level of accuracy, perhaps within a couple of seconds of the shot itself. Within a minute of the first shot, the police can be on the scene. In this case, the suspects have only just jumped into their cars, and so are picked up easily. There's no opportunity for any kind of revenge, because the suspects are in a cell. Of course it's not a fantastic idea for every city; but if you're a company that focuses on military hardware, filtering off into LA, Chicago and NY can easily be an advantage for all.
breischl 11y ago
>>this thing is a solution to a very tiny problem: gunshots that are not reported via emergency calls. That's not exactly true. When people call in gunshots they frequently have at best a vague idea where the shots came from. If you're sitting in your house with the window open, the shots will most likely sound as if they came from that direction - even if they were actually in the opposite direction. So you could be sending the police to a place 6 blocks away, which in a dense urban environment is quite a long ways indeed. Being able to reliably figure out the actual location has value. source: we have lots of gunshots in our neighborhood. Police response and ability to actually catch people has gone up since the spotter was installed.