ShotSpotter Responds to False and Misleading Allegations by VICE News
2021年7月28日 - 8:55AM
ShotSpotter, Inc., a leader in precision policing technology
solutions that enable law enforcement to more effectively respond
to, investigate, and deter crime, responds below to false and
misleading allegations that VICE published on July 26, 2021:
To the Communities We Serve:
Recently, VICE published outrageous allegations that create a
false narrative about our technology, review and forensic process
that undermine the important work ShotSpotter does every day to
help combat the gun violence epidemic.
First, ShotSpotter forensic evidence is 100% reliable and based
entirely on the facts and science. ShotSpotter has never altered
the information in a court-admissible detailed forensic report
based on fitting a police narrative.
It is important to understand that there are two separate and
equally important services that ShotSpotter provides relating to
gunshot sounds. The first is to detect and report potential
gunshots. These are real-time notifications that detect and alert
police to a specific gunfire incident. The goal is to quickly
determine when and where gunfire has occurred within a city’s
coverage area and to create a rapid and precise police response.
This process is 97% accurate based on customers reporting back to
the company for the years 2019 and 2020.
ShotSpotter also is available to provide, a detailed forensic
report that is prepared as courtroom evidence and for expert
witness testimony. As opposed to the detect and report service, the
forensic service requires a detailed forensic analysis of the
gunfire. It provides a more detailed analysis of gunfire. As an
example, the immediate detect and report service may or may not
report multiple gunshots, the forensic analysis would. Whether
gunfire occurs is important to the detect and report service, the
number of gunshots may or may not be important to a trial. And it
is for this reason that ShotSpotter offer the additional
service.
This additional service results in a court-admissible analysis
of a gunfire incident. Our expert forensic analysts spend on
average eight hours per incident to compile a court-admissible
report using specialized tools that are different than for alerts
that is 100% exact on rounds fired, timing, sequence and location
of shots fired – something they can testify to in court under
oath.
ShotSpotter evidence and expert witness testimony have been
successfully admitted in 190 court cases in 20 states. ShotSpotter
evidence has prevailed in ten successful Frye challenges and one
successful Daubert challenge throughout the United States. Our data
compiled with our expert analysis help prosecutors make
convictions.
The detailed forensic report is never altered because it is a
completely separate process from the alerts. Forensic analysis may
uncover additional information relative to a real-time alert such
as more rounds fired or an updated timing or location upon more
thorough investigation by forensic analysis. We respond to requests
to further investigate an incident for a forensic report only to
provide the facts that we can determine and not to fit a
predetermined narrative. This is about being diligent and providing
the appropriate evidence and insights in the evidentiary chain of
custody and nothing more.
The idea that ShotSpotter “alters” or “fabricates” evidence in
any way is an outrageous lie and would be a criminal offense. We
follow the facts and data for our forensic analysis. Period.
Second, ShotSpotter Will Not Tolerate False
Characterizations of the Two Cases VICE
Cited
VICE’s article falsely alleged that in the Williams case in
Chicago, Illinois, prosecutors withdrew ShotSpotter evidence
because it would not meet scientific evidentiary standards because
it had been altered. This is false. No evidence provided by
ShotSpotter was altered. ShotSpotter forensic analysts evaluated
the incident to create a court-admissible forensic report.
The issue was this. The prosecutor’s theory was that the gunshot
occurred in the victim’s car. Once ShotSpotter learned of this
theory, it approached the prosecutor and informed him that the
ShotSpotter evidence could not support this theory. ShotSpotter has
long informed the public, prosecutors and police that ShotSpotter
cannot detect gunshots that occur in a car or a building. In short,
the prosecutor’s theory of the case was inconsistent with the
evidence. ShotSpotter so informed the prosecutor. Far from a case
of tampering with evidence, ShotSpotter informed the prosecutor
that the evidence it had would not support the prosecutor’s
theory.
In a similar manner the article misconstrues facts relating to
another case. The article also falsely and without any
substantiation alleged that ShotSpotter fabricated evidence or
altered audio files in the Simmons case in Rochester, New York. The
audio files ShotSpotter recorded and used during the trial were
secured and preserved using industry-standard forensic procedures.
Audio files submitted as evidence were reviewed by our forensic
analysts to create a court-admissible forensic report. They were
never altered by ShotSpotter. We are currently engaged in a lawsuit
and are vigorously defending our position.
Third, the ShotSpotter system is highly accurate at
detecting outdoor gunshots and benefits communities battling gun
violence.
The article falsely twisted the words of a ShotSpotter forensic
expert to suggest our accuracy rates are the product of our
marketing or sales departments. Nothing could be further from the
truth. In 2019 and 2020, the ShotSpotter system had a 97% accuracy
rate for real-time across all customers, a figure derived directly
from police department reports. At the same time, ShotSpotter
promises them a 90% accuracy rate in our service level agreements
(SLA) because our customers expect and deserve a minimum accuracy
rate. Our system has been tested to ensure that we correctly convey
our system’s efficacy to our customers. In addition, ShotSpotter
rigorously trains and tests every individual reviewing real-time
gunfire incidents at the company to ensure they are performing at a
level consistent with the company’s quality objectives.
VICE’s attempted takedown is a sad distraction from the issue at
hand: addressing gun violence to keep our communities safe. In
recent weeks, shootings have surged in many parts of the country,
robbing us of American lives. ShotSpotter is a tool for helping law
enforcement put a stop to this senseless violence and break the
cycle of the normalization of gun violence in our communities. We
will not tolerate our company being maligned and will vigorously
defend our work in making communities safer for all.
Media Contact: Trident DMG Caroline
Beckmann202-440-1783 cbeckmann@tridentdmg.com
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