Wikipedia
"ShotSpotter" (redirects to "SoundThinking")
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SoundThinking, Inc. (formerly ShotSpotter Inc.) is an American security technology company based in Fremont, California. The company is publicly traded, and is known for its gunfire locator service. ShotSpotter claims it can identify when a gunshot is fired in an area in order to dispatch law enforcement, though researchers have noted concerns about effectiveness, reliability, privacy, and equity. The company has been partnering with cities and police since 1997, and as of 2022 has been utilized by more than 130 cities and law enforcement agencies in the US.

ShotSpotter was founded by Robert Showen in the 1990s while he was working for SRI International. He created a company in 1996 and tested prototypes in Redwood City, California. Its early success was described by Wired as being "due to good PR, not good technology." James Beldock joined as CEO in 2003 as a "turnaround specialist"; in 2005 the company merged with Centurist Systems, which was creating acoustic sniper location systems for the military; Centurist held a "deceptively simple patent" for the location algorithm. Centurist's CEO, Scott Manderville, became chairman of the board.

Ralph Clark was named CEO of ShotSpotter in 2010. The company went public in June 2017. The company authorized a stock buyback program in 2019 and bought back $8.3 million by the end of 2020.

The company's gross revenues were $58.2 million in 2021, up from $45.7 million in 2020 and from $40.8 million in 2019. The company had a net loss of $4.4 million in 2021, in part from nonrenewal of contracts and increases in legal costs and lobbying.

ShotSpotter illegally lobbied the city of Oakland, California in 2014 and received a $5000 fine.

In April 2023, the company rebranded to SoundThinking to better represent a "holistic approach to gun violence," but retained the ShotSpotter product name.

In an August 2023 earnings call, the CEO of SoundThinking announced that the company had begun the process of absorbing parts (including the "engineering team") of Geolitica, formerly known as PredPol.

A June 2021 study in the Journal of Experimental Criminology stated the system "may be of little benefit to police agencies with a pre-existing high call volume. Our results indicate no reductions in serious violent crimes, yet [ShotSpotter] increases demands on police resources." An October 2021 paper in the Journal of Urban Health, studying the longitudinal effects of ShotSpotter over a 17-year period, found "implementing ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on firearm-related homicides or arrest outcomes."

In July 2023, a Houston Chronicle investigation showed that ShotSpotter calls resulted in lower incident report rates and longer police response times. Over 80% of ShotSpotter alerts were false positives or otherwise useless. The almost 5500 alerts led to 99 arrests and 126 charges, about half of which were misdemeanors. In May 2024, Houston mayor John Whitmire said "I think it's a gimmick. A feel-good program. Most law enforcement officers do not support ShotSpotter. I don't support it."

A 2024 audit from the New York City Comptroller found that during the month of June 2023 New York City Police Department responded to 940 alerts, 82% could not confirm a shot was fired, and 5% were unfounded or a false positive. Comptroller Brad Lander said "NYPD is wasting precious time and money on this technology and needs to do a better job managing its resources. Chasing down car backfires and construction noise does not make us safer."

In May 2024, three senators and a representative wrote a letter requesting the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General open an investigation into ShotSpotter for its accuracy and racial bias in policing.