GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Police are proposing the use of gunfire detection technology, which community advocates say they have long opposed.
City leaders put off voting on ShotSpotter in 2015, but it's been brought back up through GRPD's recently released strategic plan and in response to this year's gun violence. The system utilizes acoustic surveillance technology to notify dispatch and police within 60 seconds of a shot being fired.
But a coalition of community organizations and movements, penned a letter to city leaders urging them to keep the technology out of Grand Rapids neighborhoods.
"Our concerns are really around increasing forms of mass surveillance in the city, particularly within neighborhoods of color, we believe that this doesn't do much to actually solve or prevent crime," said Kyle Lim, a strategist with Urban Core Collective. "It's not a preventative move."
The coalition, which includes NAACP Grand Rapids, Urban Core Collective, Defund the GRPD, Justice for Black Lives, Linc Up and Equity PAC, is calling on community members with similar concerns to let city leaders know.
But, one of the coalition's other concerns is the timeline for the proposal.
Late last week, GRPD announced two virtual town halls to discuss the program on Monday, Nov. 2 and Thursday, Nov. 5.
The coalition had asked that the department move those sessions to next week after the election.
"The current plan for engagement doesn't line up with GRPD's own goals of sustained engagement within communities. I think that's a really important piece of this," Lim said Monday.
In the strategic plan, the department indicated that it planned to revisit the effectiveness of gunfire detection technology and hold meetings in each ward to educate and seek input.
A GRPD public information officer said Monday the department is moving rapidly out of necessity. The city has seen over 30 homicides this year, and the majority of which involved a gun.
"While I respect that people think maybe it's moving very quickly, what we're seeing on the streets and these increase in violent crimes, the department doesn't want to wait any longer," said Sgt. Dan Adams.
If implemented, Adams said the program that according to its website is utilized by over 100 U.S. cities would be set up in two Grand Rapids neighborhoods covering a four square mile area.
The system uses audio sensors attached to buildings or lampposts in the neighborhood to surveil for gunshots, the audio is then reviewed by analysts to determine if the sound is gunfire before dispatching the alert.
"You know sound can travel in funny ways, so it's hard to nail down, but with ShotSpotter, we'll be able to get a much more precise location and be able to respond more effectively," Adams said.
ShotSpotter lists a high success rate in cities across the country, however, some cities have reported false alarms being a recurring issue with the program.
To that, Adams says that the technology has advanced and been utilized successfully in the time since the city last considered it.
"We don't want to give off the message that we're putting all of our eggs in one basket, so to speak, but we definitely feel that this is a tool that can be effective for us, and it can save lives," he said.
The program was originally going to be funded for two years using $500,000 in CARES Act funding, which was approved by the Kent County Commission last month. The effort was led by Commissioner Robert S. Womack.
However, during the Monday night town hall about the program, Police Chief Eric Payne said the CARES Act dollars could not be used for ShotSpotter, but it was not clear how the $500,000 would be used instead.
The city did not immediately return a request for clarification regarding the program's funding Monday evening.
Payne said the department would be presenting the idea to the city's fiscal committee on Nov. 10 to identify funding. It would then go before city commissioners.
Lim says UCC along with the other community organizations would instead like to see the money go toward data transparency and a violence prevention program.
"While we recognize that violence is happening in our neighborhoods, we think that there needs to be other interventions in place that alleviate either the complex set of systemic needs that underlie the reality of that violence, or a reaction from the city that doesn't seek to simply punish and hurt more people," Lim said.
RELATED: Advocates push for program to 'interrupt' gun violence in Grand Rapids. Here's how it works.
The next ShotSpotter town hall is Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and can be viewed on the city's Facebook and YouTube.
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