In 2018, the City of Chicago entered a $33 million, three-year contract with ShotSpotter. Over the past two years, the City has paid ShotSpotter about $9 million per year.

The City then spends millions of additional dollars for police officers to chase down tens of thousands of dead-end ShotSpotter alerts every year.

In December 2021, the city quietly extended its contract with ShotSpotter for two more years, through August 19, 2023. The City extended the contract with no public notice, no public input, and apparently no studies or analysis of the system’s effectiveness. In June 2022 the city increased the total value of the contract by almost $6 million.”

ShotSpotter is touted as a tool that reduces gun crime, by allowing police to identify more shooting incidents, and direct police to an incident faster than traditional 9-1-1 calls. Studies by government watchdogs have found these supposed benefits are illusory.

Read about the research here