Springfield police are testing gunshot detection technology

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – A real-time gunshot detection and identification system is being tested in Springfield.

The area where shots are most commonly reported extends from Kearney Street and Glenstone Avenue to Kearney and West Bypass, then south to West Bypass and Sunshine Street and continuing to Sunshine and Glenstone.

Deshaun and D’Liyah Hempstead live near the Raven system.

“In my personal opinion, it’s actually better, everyone has their own personal presence and option, but that’s just my opinion,” says Deshaun.

Anything that makes a neighborhood safer is a positive.

“Personally, I think it’s a good idea because most of us, or many of us, have children that sometimes we can’t even allow to walk down the streets or go to the park without people feeling like they are “That’s okay.” pull out a gun and shoot. I think it’s a really great idea,” says D’Liyah Hempstead.

They have seen firsthand what gun violence can do.

“There were a lot of shootings and a lot of violence or gun violence. I lost my brother to gun violence, so it’s hard,” said Deshaun Hempstead.

Hearing about a Springfield Police Department pilot program is positive for her.

“You also have to do something to keep the crime rate down, it’s going up, gun violence is going up,” said Deshaun Hempstead.

Springfield police have installed 56 devices with audio detection sensors designed to detect and identify the sound of gunfire in real time, allowing officers to respond more quickly.

“What it does is the sensors detect the shot and then triangulate where the shot came from,” said Capt. Culley Wilson with SPD.

The devices were installed in an area where there were reports of gunfire.

“There is a problem with gun violence in the United States, including in Springfield. We have too many people out here shooting each other and firing guns at night for no reason, and we want to see that number go down,” Wilson said.

According to Springfield police, the department saw 338 shootings in 2020, 295 in 2021, 356 in 2022 and 317 in 2023.

“So this is us, the police department and the city, looking at the technology to see if it helps us combat this problem in the future or breaks it down,” Wilson said.

The city is currently testing the system for free to see if it works in one square mile of the city for 90 days. If the tests are effective, the department will have to decide whether to approach the City Council about purchasing the device.

“$30,000 is a lot of money for that, we’re going to evaluate it, the police chief, the majors, myself, the captains and the entire department are going to evaluate it to see if it’s worth what we’re getting,” says Wilson.

The department says this could be a valuable tool in the department’s long-term strategy to reduce crimes involving guns.

“It gives us the possible location, that shot, within 60 seconds.” And that’s what Flock says after giving us that information within sixty seconds of it happening. This will increase our response time,” says Wilson.

For the Hempstead’s: “You shouldn’t have any feelings about it. When you have nothing,” says D’Liyah Hempstead.

Cameras are a part of life.

“Everyone goes out in public every day and gets accepted or not,” says Deshaun Hempstead.

They think that if this system existed, maybe things would have been different for their brother.

“That definitely would have been the case,” says D’Liyah Hempstead.

The Raven system went live a few weeks ago and was recently activated to start the 90 day trial. In 2021, the city council rejected funding for a similar system from another company.

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