The ongoing debate over whether to keep ShotSpotter, the technology used by police to alert them when gunfire is heard, will come to a vote at the Chicago City Council Wednesday.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was pushed to extend the contract with ShotSpotter through the end of the Democratic National Convention. Now, several aldermen who want to keep the technology in place are calling for a last-ditch effort that would take the mayor out of the decision-making.
During a news conference Monday, the mayor offered his sharpest criticism to date on the gunshot detection technology, making it clear he does not intend to reconsider the contracts.
“We’ve spent $100 million on what essentially is walkie talkies on a stick,” Johnson said. “The reason why they said we needed it was to reduce gun violence. It didn’t do that.”
The ShotSpotter contract is set to expire on Sept. 22 with a “60-day wind down period,” according to Gary Bunyard, the company’s vice president of corporate development. If the contract is not extended before Sept. 22, the company will start removing 2,000+ devices across the city.
Several aldermen, however, said they don’t want that to happen.
“We are going to do everything we can within the chambers in the next two days — both in committee and at city council — to ensure that we keep the technology working for the residents of the city of Chicago,” said Ald. Raymond Lopez, who represents the city’s 15th ward.
Chicago Police Department Supt. Larry Snelling has said in the past that he supports the technology, and that is the opinion that ultimately matters to Ald. Bill Conway.
“I do think (ShotSpotter) is something that we should keep, but I also don’t feel the need to put Superintendent Snelling, who by all accounts is doing a great job, …. in the middle of an argument between City Council and the mayor,” said Conway, who represents Ward 34.
The aldermen who support the technology want Chicago’s Office of Public Safety Administration to negotiate a new deal to extend the use of the technology.
Lopez said members of council have enough signatures to hold a special meeting Wednesday. The purpose of the special meeting is to immediately consider an ordinance “allowing the executive director of the Public Safety Administration to enter into, renew or extend gunshot detection technology contracts in consultation with the Chicago Police Department and Corporation Counsel.”
The full council meets on Wednesday.