ShotSpotter network alerts police to gunfire around the District

WASHINGTON - D.C. Police can track gunshots in the District with the use of ShotSpotter technology. The sensors pick up the sound of gunfire and pinpoints its exact location on the streets of D.C.

FOX 5's Paul Wagner wanted to see how often the technology picks up the sound of gunshots on any given day - so he requested all of the police recordings from Saturday, July 30th, 2016.

Wagner found that the ShotSpotter network recorded 30 separate shootings in ever part of the District that day, expect for the southwest. Once the network picks up the sound of gunshots it sends an alarm to officers monitoring the system at police headquarters. A software program then determines a location of where the shots were fired.

ShotSpotter alerted officers to three shootings that resulted in homicides that day. One person was shot and killed near Interstate 295 and Firth Sterling Avenue in the southeast. Another homicide was reported on Good Hope Road and a third was reported on 14th Street in the northwest.

ShotSpotter is not quite as accurate as GPS but it has helped police make quick arrests in many cases.