#Stop ShotSpotter Campaign
@stopshotspotter
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A campaign to cancel ShotSpotter's contract in Chicago and beyond, invest in life-affirming institutions and programs, and end police surveillance.
Chicago, IL
Joined February 2022
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Organizing works! After years of community pressure, the City of Chicago has committed to ending its use of ShotSpotter in September 2024. Thank you to all the coalition partners, community members, the Mayor, and every person who fought for this
#StopShotSpotter
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The same mayor that lifted the bridges in 2020 to let cops beat us wants us to believe she’s on our side?
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot At Pride Fest: "F--k Clarence Thomas!"
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As of today, there are just under 100 days left until Chicago's ShotSpotter contract expires on February 16th. Will
@ChicagosMayor
keep his campaign promise of ending the contract?
#cancelthecontract
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💸 Over $48 million has been spent on ShotSpotter since 2018, with no proven reduction in gun violence. Independent studies show it falls short, leading to dead-end deployments and a surge in stop-and-frisk. Lives are at stake.
#cancelthecontract
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HUGE WIN IN PORTLAND!! Make sure to give Portland organizers and community members their flowers!
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Remember when cash bail ended and reactionaries said it be the purge?
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ShotSpotter upholds the system that killed him. They are surveillance. They help law enforcement. And as soon as they can make a profit they will help any federal law enforcement agency too.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed this nation and the world for the better. Today, we honor his legacy.
#MLKDay
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Join us this Thursday to learn more about racial surveillance, the harmful effects of ShotSpotter, and how you can get involved in the campaign!
Register here:
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we were glad to hear
@ChicagosMayor
reaffirm his commitment to standing by his campaign promise and end the use of ShotSpotter in September
when asked if ShotSpotter will be replaced with another form of gunshot detection, he responded with a resounding no
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A company whose business model includes surveilling and sending cops into black & brown communities is now exploiting George Floyd’s memory and saying they care about ending systemic racism
Today is George Floyd Remembrance Day. As we mourn the loss of Mr. Floyd, let’s remind ourselves of our ongoing duty to fight against systemic racism and inequality in order to build a better world.
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Shoutout to everyone in Buffalo that made this happen 💯
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Been looking to get involved with stopping police surveillance?? Join us Thursday, May 25th at 6pm CT. We will be having our first open meeting to let people get informed about our work and give them an opportunity to join!
Join here:
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‼️ “In his motion, Edwards claimed that John Fountain, ShotSpotter’s former director of field and network operations, told him to “falsify numbers on the deteriorated system to avoid” having to pay back money to cities and agencies for not meeting their contractual obligations.”
ShotSpotter Suing Former Employees
Chris Edwards and Ginsi Robinson argued the lawsuit is meant to shut them up for raising issues about alleged fraudulent business practices and what they claim was a harmful workplace culture.
Read the full story here
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📣 Happening today 📣
Treatment Not Trauma would redirect mental health crises calls to MH professionals instead of relying on ineffective policing. Join our teach-in to learn more about the program & how your voice can help make it a reality!
Register @
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funny how almost all of the sponsoring alders rejected our demands for transparency around contract decisions back in 2021 bc it served their pro-cop interests then; now that MBJ has rejected the indefinite use of ShotSpotter, they have an issue with the process. yeah ok
SCOOP: Sources say the Police & Fire Cmte agenda for Monday will include an item that places the decision whether to keep ShotSpotter at the ward level.
Still unclear how that would work with regard to police districts, which are fewer and have different boundaries than wards.
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(THREAD) It’s been about a month since the CCPSA meeting on ShotSpotter. It was very intense and February was a busy month (LOL) so we took a min to gather our thoughts and reflections, but we’re feeling ready to share!
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🚨 A leaked document details the alleged precise locations and uptime of 25,580 ShotSpotter microphones - take a look!
EXCLUSIVE: A WIRED analysis of data leaked from the surveillance company formerly known as Shotspotter reveals the secret locations of 25,580 gunshot detection microphones.
Check our interactive map to see if there's a sensor mounted near you.
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As US citizens & Chicagoans celebrate "freedom"
This is a spit in the face to Black and Brown people who are surveilled by
@soundthinking_
&
@Chicago_Police
Here is our statement demanding
@ChicagosMayor
end ShotSpotter's contract & police surveillance!
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Let’s keep the conversation going! <3 Talk with your friends and neighbors, and tell Chicago electeds to
#DumpShotSpotter
now and invest $9 mil/year in reopening shuttered mental health clinics, housing, health care, and all the life-affirming programs that actually keep us safe.
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This Valentine’s Day, break off your toxic relationship with police surveillance. Here are some red flags Chicago residents need to look out for.
#DumpShotSpotter
#CancelTheContract
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We vow to honor the
@GKMC18
peace pledge. We Promise to resolve conflicts in a non-violent way and use restorative justice. We promise to invest in healing and help those dealing with pain, anger, and trauma.
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There’s still time to register for our open meeting!
Happening tomorrow at 6pm, this will be the perfect chance to learn how harmful Soundthinking/Shotspotter is & the work we are doing to get rid of it
Register here:
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There are sooo many reasons we hate ShotSpotter, but here are the top ten. TLDR: This harmful technology is used to surveil and police Black and brown communities and literally cannot reduce gun violence. Tell your electeds to
#DumpShotSpotter
immediately this Valentine's Day <3
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Today we think of our siblings
@defendATLforest
fighting for freedom for Black, Indigenous, and Brown people.
Today shows who this country is for:
white, wealthy, landowners
#StopCopCity
is a fight
#NoCopAcdemy
made. We stand in solidarity with
@defendATLforest
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Look at it this way:
@GKMC18
asked for 2% of CPD’s budget for the Peacebook. The mayor hasn’t mentioned Peacebook since he took office and increased CPD’s budget by 2%! How is that “The People’s Budget”?
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Your reminder that ShotSpotter can’t distinguish between a firework and a gunshot… yet this city still spends $9million every year on this racist and useless technology.
a
#ChicagoScanner
Update: Due to an excessive amount of fireworks in
#Chicago
, the
#ShotSpotter
will be suppressed this weekend.
they finna throttle the data
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“Mimicking the language of organizers and activists, the company describes its tools as “equitable.” … there is no “equity” or justice in surveillance.”
Read this 🔥 piece by Sharah Houston and
@FREEwrites_
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@ChicagosMayor
budget address gave us a lot of political jargon that hid a lot of its shortcomings. The budget is not easy to read and is incredibly long! We want to break down some shortcomings of this so-called “People’s Budget.” Join us as we get into it.
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Harith Augustus was murdered by CPD on July 14th, 2018 because cops see Black men as a threat even when Black men are doing nothing but walking down the street listening to music. Here are a couple essential things to take away from the article the
@theintercept
wrote 🧵
Chicago Police Construct False Narrative After Shooting Black Man
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, we can see in officers’ hostile, defensive responses to questions from residents the seeds of the disorder that will later ensue.
Full story:
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Secondly, he’s labeled this “The People’s Budget,” meaning it must uphold community member’s demands for building a sustainable future. Co-opting language from movement spaces while giving $9 million to ShotSpotter and increasing CPD’s budget by $90 Million is a slap in the face.
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In an impartial panel the last words were had by soundthinking ceo and a prosecutor who clearly is pro cop.
We also saw Black queer folks being told they are not impacted by this and being shouted at to be more respectful. We hope CCPSA can review how things went down and change
in response to loizon’s monologue, a 12th district police council member (didn’t catch their name) grabbed the mic and announced they were walking out because this session had become “copaganda.”
crowd is shouting her down now.
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“ ShotSpotter gunshot detection system fails to reduce violent crime in Kansas City, study says”
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Absolutely disgusted by this, especially in context of the COPA update this week. SoundThinking and ShotSpotter do not deserve to be in Chicago. They do not deserve to make millions off gun violence while actively putting Chicagoans in dangerous situations with police. GTFO
Clark concluded his comments on Chicago with, "We deserve to be in Chicago."
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guess it has to be said -
#StopShotSpotter
includes the tech coming down!! sure hope this is being built into the decommission plan for this fall 👀
NEW: Internal emails show ShotSpotter keeps its sensors online and continues to provide gunshot detection alerts to police departments in cities where its contracts were canceled.
With
@MaxBlaisdell1
for
@SouthSideWeekly
and
@WIRED
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thank you
@AldermanLaSpata
&
@Ward33Chicago
❤️🔥 we know this move comes from your deep commitment to violence prevention + investments in our communities that move us closer to that
(you guessed it, ShotSpotter is not that)
The ShotSpotter vote was delayed using a parliamentary maneuver by opponents.
Ald. Daniel La Spata and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez “deferred and published” the order that could allow the controversial technology to remain in Chicago. It could face a vote at another meeting.
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“Communities have no input on what public safety is for us. We have no input on the technologies being used against us to target and criminalize us” -
@FREEwrites_
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Join us on August 4th for a teach-in to learn more about racialized surveillance, the campaign to
#stopshotspotter
, and how you can get involved!
Register here:
Join us August 4th to learn about the impacts of ShotSpotter and how to fight racialized surveillance in your community!
@lucyparsonslabs
@stopshotspotter
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Chicago friends: If you haven’t already, sign the petition to
#DumpShotSpotter
and
#CancelTheContract
at today! Follow us on social media
@StopShotSpotter
:)
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It’s important to think about how 24/7 audio recording of cities can be used against organizers. There are so many reasons to be against surveillance and all routes lead to abolition!
The surveillance company
@shotspotter
takes great pains to obfuscate the fact that it simply records the audio for its entire coverage area with ordinary microphones and stores the “audio spool” for many hours.
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"When subpoenaed for proof showing how their system works, ShotSpotter requested to be held in contempt of court rather than respond."
Opinion: Cleveland City Council Must Cancel ShotSpotter
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Be the scariest person on the block with this costume!
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Congrats to Durham Beyond Policing & others who helped get ShotSpotter out of their city!! 🎉
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This is what we canceled. We are against POLICE coming into our communities with the ability to say they have probable cause to search, arrest, steal from, or do other harm to people simply because they can say there might have been a gunshot there.
NEW: Yesterday the Cook County State's Attorney added CPD Officer Yesenia Rojas to their Do Not Call list. She joins her fellow corrupt 5th District Tactical Team members who are on the list for allegedly falsifying reports & making unlawful stops.
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Join the Stop ShotSpotter campaign on Friday, February 9th, 1:30 - 3:30 PM at Rev B T Little Community Center for a youth art party! We’ll be making posters, banners, postcards, alllll kinds of art to talk about how surveillance does not keep us safe!
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Amazing now do
@GKMC18
#peacebook
& cancel our shotspotter contract!
It's official! Two proposals blocked by the prior mayoral administration are set to receive Chicago City Council Committee hearings.
#TreatmentNotTrauma
on Monday at 10 am
#BringChicagoHome
on Thursday at 2 pm
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Pay attention to how quick people in power are to lie to our faces. Keep that in mind when they are advocating for more police and surveillance tech.
On January 1st.....everyone in Illinois will have the same rights while awaiting trial. That's littlerly it.
For decades, the size of your bank account determined whether or not you were jailed pretrial. Release decisions will now be based on facts, not finances.
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Support the fight against surveillance in your community. Let ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark Know we are sick of this technology!
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911 calls on the South and West sides have been ignored while "rapid response" cops make traffic stops instead.
Many Chicagoans in Black and Latino neighborhoods have experiences of being left to fend for themselves in times of crisis.
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Join
#StopShotSpotter
next Saturday, December 17th at The Thompson Center to launch the People’s Unity Platform. The Platform will create space for Chicagoans to advocate for progressive agenda items, like
#StopShotSpotter
, for our future. Register here:
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When we think about surveillance, it isn't just a piece of technology. It is a system that reinforces race, gender, class biases. -
@lucyparsonslabs
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BIG BIG shoutout to
@freedomtothrive
&
@sisterspdx
for all of the amazing work they put into securing this win
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A good read! Victims of gun violence shouldn’t exist! Funding communities will end gun violence.
Helping victims of gun violence shouldn’t bring harm to or jail Black people (surveillance & police)!
Listen to
@GKMC18
and
@defundcpdchi
for alternatives!
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It should be noted that our campaign does not want the alternatives advocated for in this article. We want non-police alternatives to public safety not a “better” gun shot detection service.
PPB leaders and ShotSpotter colluded months before FITCOG reviewed the harmful surveillance technology. Police also appear to have lied to press about the relationship.
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You might as well give this a read if you haven’t yet or again if you have!
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ShotSpotter does nothing to address the mistrust in police departments or abuses cops commit. It assumes community members all think the same and secretly want cops. It assumes there is no valid fear in police arriving. Another point people ignore to fit their narrative.
If 80-90% of gunfire goes unreported, why wouldn’t you want to close that gap? Especially, if it had the potential to save 100+ lives in addition to other ancillary benefits. Still have not heard any reasonable argument against that proposition.
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“This issue is not new. Police have long preferred mechanisms of manufacturing consent that lie within their control”
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We are abolition. This is the revolution we will
#stopshotspotter
End money bond ✅
Erase the gang database ✅
Stop Shotspotter is next!
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I just wanna know how a surveillance company that send police to the Black & Brown neighborhoods of Chicago so they can arrest them thinks it’s okay to post this.
On June 19, we commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Happy Juneteenth from the SoundThinking team.
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We love seeing how ineffective Shotspotter has been in Chicago. AND this frames it as our only choice is to use it and help police or not use it to help police! We want to frame it as we either help our communities or police!
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Ald. Taylor said we need to have a real convo on safety and “throwing more money at ShotSpotter and the police has not made us safe, because we’ve done that for decades” – we couldn’t agree more!
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This is what Toledo is spending ARPA funds on.
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Check out these maps by Neomi Rao that show CPD ShotSpotter alerts by neighborhood from 2017-2021. We see an increase in ShotSpotter alerts each year with zero evidence that the technology does anything to reduce gun violence.
Map cred: Neomi Rao
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Reminder that
@soundthinking_
has been so uncooperative and persistent in helping cops violate peoples rights that TWO courts have had to force them to show how their system works.
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Here is a summary of an op-ed by Sharah Hutson and Alyx Goodwin about ShotSpotter's rebrand to SoundThinking!
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The suntimes conveniently forgetting that chicagos mayor has spoken on shotspotter before this month AND forgetting all of the op-ed’s THEY published discussing the harms of SS just reaks of copaganda
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They ignore our points that the thousands of deployments shotspotter send police to where they are interacting, arresting, and potentially killing Black and brown folks because they just think that’s what’s supposed to happen.
If 80-90% of gunfire goes unreported, why wouldn’t you want to close that gap? Especially, if it had the potential to save 100+ lives in addition to other ancillary benefits. Still have not heard any reasonable argument against that proposition.
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People are not giving the Mayors office enough credit. We know the Mayors office & the Office of Public Safety were already working on reimagining how the city tackles public safety. Why would their initial statement go into extreme details? What other announcement has done that?
Such an interesting frame chosen here.
What made it timid? And the announcement is to end it in 7 months, which literally gives CPD time to prepare. If he ended it Monday, that would fail to give CPD time to prepare.
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ShotSpotter’s rebrand confirms what community members like us have long been saying: ShotSpotter/
@SoundThinking_
is a company that is first and foremost concerned with their profits, not creating safety in our communities. We won’t be tricked by this PR stunt!
@ralphaclark
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@GKMC18
@ChicagosMayor
This is all the more reason people need to keep demanding an immediate cancellation, joining the movement, sharing information, and signing the petition!!!
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What better way to spend your Saturday than talking about ending all forms of carceral violence?
Join our virtual teach-in with
@BelieverBailOut
, starting in 20 minutes!
Register here:
We’re collaborating with
@BelieverBailOut
to host a Virtual Teach In on Sat, April 9 from 12-1:30pm CST. Join us to learn about how ShotSpotter is connected to police violence & the broader surveillance network of CPD, & how to get involved.
Register at .
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1) Contract is canceled to free up $8.9m in the Emrgncy Tel Systms Fund. 2) The City moves $8.9m of eligible OEMC expenses currently in the Corporate Fund to be covered by the Emrgncy Tel Fund. 3) Tada! Now there's $8.9m freed up in the Corp Fund for whatever our ppl want :) easy
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Well rounded reporting that acknowledges potential political strategy, legitimate concerns by organizers, and concerns by others. It also uplifts how we do not have to send police to these situations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he will not extend the Chicago Police Department’s contract with ShotSpotter, fulfilling a key campaign promise to end the use of the controversial gunshot detection system.
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tbh still laughing at this bc "works" is... an ~interesting~ word to choose 🧐
#StopShotSpotter
#CancelTheContract
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THANK YOU to
@CDRosa
@taylorfor20th
@RossanaFor33
@SigchoFor25
@DanielLaSpata
@Mariafor49
@rodriguezfor22
@AldMattMartin
@Andrefor40th
@5thWardChicago
for your continued leadership on canceling ShotSpotter & getting this harmful tech out of our neighborhoods!
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The relationship between ShotSpotter and the people of Chicago is toxic! We demand investment in our communities through programs that create real safety, not increased surveillance and policing.
#DumpShotSpotter
#CancelTheContract
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Other Organizations working to
#StopShotSpotter
:
@MPower_Change
@justcitydetroit
@Detroit_Action
@MILiberation
@MPower_Change
@LiberateHTX
@HoustonDSA
@mutualaidhou
@HoustonHoochies
@SpaceCityAO
@screwstonafc
@TxJailProject
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Very curious how many different studies we need to show this
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The city could easily work with the Chicago car community to organize events safely if they cared about public safety. Instead they are using police to fine community members & impound cars. While at the same time working with NASCAR to create a privatized street race
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Like y’all PR team can try as hard you want your stock price closing at a 365 day low is all we need to know about how the little grift is going lol
We believe that transparency is fundamental to improving both the police-community relationship and for building trust in law enforcement technology. For this reason, we have released open-source tools for reading ShotSpotter audio files. Learn more here:
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@chicagomayors
you have 80 days! Cancel the ShotSpotter contract and prioritize real community safety!
#EndShotSpotter
#cancelthecontract
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Detroit City Council is debating spending $8 million in pandemic relief to renew and expand their contract. Detroit activists are fighting to end the contract the city has. While the mayor ignores their concerns and advocates for expanding the tech.
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Through teach-ins, canvassing, campaign update meetings, and conversations with community members from all over Chicago, we got to learn what people would rather the city spend its money on instead of continuing a contract with ShotSpotter.
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Ald. Vasquez uplifted the City hasn’t identified goals or metrics for evaluating success in using ShotSpotter. As he points out, operating with an assumption that putting $9 million towards a software is getting us what we want is simply an assumption without evaluation.
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The continuous use of this case as an example of ShotSpotter working is wrong and actually shows how the current response to gunfire - even with this tech in place - is extremely lacking. CPD's non-response to emergency situations is further covered here:
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Our fight is nothing without the emphasis on BUILDING ways for our communities to prevent violence as well as protect each other in the midst of so much gun violence. This is why we uplift the life affirming work of so many others like
@GKMC18
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This budget has historic wins for Black and brown communities, but it also shows us we still have a lot to do. We won't stop until ShotSpotter, all gunshot detection technology and all forms of surveillance technology are out of Chicago. We will
#StopShotSpotter
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“But it’s notable that Moore and the measure’s supporters, who claim Johnson “usurped the will of the City Council” by ending the contract and are calling for “more transparency regarding SoundThinking/ShotSpotter,” worked with the company behind the scenes.” 🫠
NEW: a lobbyist for shotspotter worked with alders on the push to sidestep mayor brandon johnson and keep the technology on a ward-by-ward basis, public records show. a final vote on proposal, sponsored by alder david moore, is scheduled for april 17.
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@GKMC18
2) Directly impacted people started this campaign and are still deeply involved in it. Yes, we haven't engaged every directly impacted neighborhood as deeply as we’d like, but that shouldn't erase the campaign members impacted by gun violence doing + leading this work.
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Black and Brown community members have made it clear: funding police + surveillance comes at the cost of funding the community. We MUST invest in our communities, especially those who are being directly harmed by the structures and systems that the city currently has in place.
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@soundthinking_
An amazing way to honor our ancestors is to stop sending police to arrest us!
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Seriously how long are they gonna get away with lying to our faces about their relationships with police?
emails between nypd officers and shotspotter show the company and the police working closely together to place its gunshot detection microphones in a manhattan neighborhood -- a potential violation of their policies w/
@sarahsholder
via
@CityLab
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Huge win in Seattle even in the face of Ralph Clark donating to the mayors campaign!
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We demand an end to the police surveillance that plagues Black and brown communities in Chicago! We must start with gunshot detection. Right now shotspotter mics surveil 80% of Black Chicagoans and 63% of Latine Chicagoans. This has to end!
#cancelthecontract
#stopshotspotter
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Shotspotter doesn’t give precise locations either they give officers a radius to search which is gave CPD probable cause to search over 2,000 people according to an OIG report
[cont.] This makes it easier for our officers to locate where a crime has occurred when residents may have just heard an instance of gunfire but do not know exactly where it happened.
#OneDetroit
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ShotSpotter can essentially guarantee they'll meet the 90% rate by simply triggering more dead-end alerts because those are all treated as accurately located locations. Only mislocated shots or gunfire that CPD tells ShotSpotter was missed counts against them.
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