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TO: Mayor John Laesch
FROM: Deputy Chief Steve Stemmet - Aurora Police Department
Lieutenant Andy Wolcott - Aurora Police Department
DATE: June 24, 2025
SUBJECT:
A resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to enter into a renewal of the ShotSpotter service agreement with Soundthinking, Inc. for a period of three years.
PURPOSE:
Soundthinking's ShotSpotter product is a gunshot detection, alert, and analysis service that is used for timely notification to law enforcement. This timely notification allows for rapid response of law enforcement to firearm discharges in the coverage area and helps officers on scene more precisely locate where the shots were fired from and where potential victims and evidence might be. The Aurora Police Department has been using ShotSpotter since July of 2022 and is looking to renew it for an additional three years.
BACKGROUND:
Gun violence in America's cities is a devastating epidemic. In the four counties we are part of, there have been almost 2,000 individuals injured by gunfire in the last five years. Also devasting is that many gunfire incidents go unreported by witnesses for the following reasons:
-They don't want to get involved
-They assume it was fireworks or that someone else called
-They don't know the exact location, so they don't call
Victims also don't call for the following reasons:
-They are injured or being raced to the hospital by car
-Because they may have been involved in criminal activity when it occurred
-Because they want to handle it themselves
Even when a citizen calls 9-1-1 to report gunfire, it typically takes several minutes for the subject to call, and for the information to get relayed to the dispatcher and to be dispatched to an officer, who could be several minutes away. Frequently when we receive these calls, the caller just heard shots and has no idea where the shooting occurred. As a result, valuable time and resources are wasted trying to locate the incident...
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