Council considers bill to expand ShotSpotter system citywide

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh is planning to expand a crimefighting and lifesaving program.

The new plan would put ShotSpotter in six times the areas it is currently.

City leaders say ShotSpotter has helped catch suspects, find evidence and even save lives.

Now they're proposing a major expansion, targeting neighborhoods with the most crime.

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The technology alerts police when a gun is fired nearby.

"In some of these areas, gunfire is routine, it's day-to-day. It gets so routine that residents don't call 911," said Wendell Hissirch, director of Pittsburgh Public Safety.

A major expansion was announced Tuesday, a proposal that would take the program from three square miles in the East End to to 18 square miles throughout the city.

It would focus on areas of high gun violence and include audio sensors and cameras.

City councilman Dan Lavelle said the expansion has been in the works for months.

"We'll be in covering the North Side of the city, we'll be into the Hill District and parts of the West End," he said. "The parts we're covering will be capturing where 80-85 percent of the gun violence has occurred over the last couple of years."

The three-year plan comes with a $3.3 million price tag.

Hissrich said its value to investigations and in saving lives can't be overstated.

"There have been times we've found victims still alive that we've saved because of ShotSpotter," he said.

The City Council is expected to vote on the expansion in the next two weeks.

If it passes, Hissrich said the North Side will be the first area where ShotSpotter will be expanded.

Cox Media Group