With ShotSpotter gone, Brandon Johnson takes heat from head of Chicago union

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Days after the city of Chicago ended its use of the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, the president of Chicago’s police union says the decision will cost people their lives.

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara posted a video online titled “RIP ShotSpotter,” in which he said ShotSpotter’s effectiveness in saving lives has been “very well documented.”

“People are not going to be calling 911 every single time,” Catanzara said. “There will be victims laying in the street, unbeknownst to [Chicago Police Department] members.”

He was very critical of the mayor for his veto, which ended the use of the technology, as well as the 14 city council members who voted to get rid of ShotSpotter.

“These people are clueless,” Catanzara said. “They will literally run this city into the ground. Regardless of this walkie-talkie on a pole nonsense that this clueless … ignorant mayor and his rhetoric keep spouting.”

Ahead of a recent special city council meeting concerning the city's use of the technology, Mayor Brandon Johnson equated ShotSpotter — which uses audio sensors to try and provide an accurate location of where gunshots may have been fired — to “walkie-talkies on a stick.”

Catanzara said the mayor and the 14 city council members are championing a cause: less people in jail, no matter what they do.

“Let's call it what it really is,” he said. “It's another way to have less people arrested for gun violations and put in jail. Period. Full stop.”

Johnson has long argued that ShotSpotter is not effective in reducing crime and that several other cities have also abandoned the technology.

The mayor said a better use of resources to make neighborhoods safer is to invest in these areas and the people who live there.

“Cities all over America are canceling the technology,” Johnson said. “Houston, this is a red state — this is not just blue states. More moderate to conservative leaders [in] San Antonio, Seattle, New Orleans, they’re canceling it because it is proven to be ineffective.”

West Side Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), a mayoral ally who chairs the Chicago City Council Budget Committee, said he thinks the city needs to look into other technologies to replace ShotSpotter.

CPD leaders said Sunday that the department is undaunted by adjustments they will need to make without ShotSpotter.

“We remind residents to call 911 with as much information and detail as possible when they hear loud reports that could resemble gunfire,” officials said. “It’s imperative that we all do our part to keep our city safe and protect our families.”

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