Friday, September 8, 2017
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states that he is “thankful to the negotiation efforts of Police Commissioner John Barbieri and CAFO TJ Plante, in partnership with our administration and our City Council, that we will be expanding the reach of ‘ShotSpotter’ further into Mason Square and the ‘X’ area of Forest Park. Unfortunately, the scourge of urban America continues to be gun violence. This expansion, along with proactive initiatives, enhances our continued crime fighting abilities, in enabling our brave and dedicated police officers to respond very quickly to get these negative individuals and guns off our streets. Through Commissioner Barbieri’s leadership overall crime is down nearly 20% this year alone – our goal will continue to be the eradication of gun violence.”
Commissioner Barbieri said, “This expansion was based on an analytical study of three years of data for shots fired incidents and calls for service related to shots fired. ShotSpotter is a tremendous asset to the Police Department in regards to rapid response, assistance to victims, apprehension of criminals, and the collection of evidence to assist with prosecutions. The community benefits from not only the near instantaneous police notification of a firearms incident but also from a deterrence aspect as criminals become aware that shots fired will result in prioritized police responses.”
City Councilor Tom Ashe, Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said, “Any tools that assist our officers in performing their duty should be in place. The ShotSpotter technology has proven to be an invaluable part of modern policing and I’m very happy that we are expanding its reach."