Minneapolis City Council unanimously votes to extend ShotSpotter technology

The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously Thursday to continue funding ShotSpotter into early 2026 as some council members stressed the need to further evaluate its effectiveness.

The gunshot detection technology is currently employed on the city’s North Side and near the Phillips neighborhood in south Minneapolis. Thursday’s vote expands it to areas in Loring Park and Whittier through March 2026, and will cost the city more than $422,000.

Critics have raised concerns about the technology’s efficacy and impact on communities of color. Some City Council members raised those concerns Thursday, but said they would still support the ShotSpotter contract.

“I want to be clear, this tool does lead to the over policing of neighborhoods of color,” Council Member Jason Chavez before voting.

Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai echoed Chavez’s sentiments. Chavez emphasized that the technology does not stop gun violence from occurring, and said the city needs to continue implementing other crime prevention initiatives.

“I have ShotSpotter in my neighborhoods, and people are still being shot and killed in these locations where ShotSpotter is at,” said Chavez, who represents Ward 9. “This isn’t going to stop people from being shot and killed. Prevention, intervention, healing, reducing and getting these guns off the street is what actually is going to reduce gun violence.”

The technology can mistake other loud noises like fireworks or a car backfiring as gunfire. Jacob Wourms, the campaign and research manager for Campaign Zero, a national advocacy group that studies police practices, says this often leads to police departments who are already understaffed responding to false alarms.

“We know the technology misses a lot and mistakes loud noises, and so what you have is police racing into these neighborhoods on high alert, expecting to encounter a shooter,” he said. “And that rarely, rarely happens there.”

Alexander Lindenfelser, a researcher at the University of Minnesota Law School and the Legal Rights Center, released findings earlier this year that said Black and Native residents are more likely to live near ShotSpotter sensors in Minneapolis. The research says this can lead to those communities being overpoliced, such as unwarranted stops and searches.

Minneapolis public safety leaders originally wanted the city to extend funding to March 2027, and to expand the technology into south Minneapolis neighborhoods like Uptown, Whittier and Lyn-Lake. But some members of the City Council’s Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee wanted more data on technology’s effectiveness before allocating more money and resources.

Some committee members, including Council Member Linea Palmisano, wanted the council to approve the 2027 proposal.

“I don’t support this shortening of the contract,” she said Thursday. “Carve outs for particular areas is not how we should be acting as a body who have committed to representing the best interests of our entire city.”

Thursday’s decision came after months of discussion about the effectiveness, cost and implications of the technology. The Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee voted 4-2 last week to approve the plan that the council ultimately passed Thursday. The committee vote acted as guidance for the full council decision.

Members of the committee also approved an audit and independent review of ShotSpotter that would inform the city on whether to extend it beyond 2026.

During Thursday’s meeting, Council Member Robin Wonsley and others stressed the importance of using the audit and review to decide the program’s future.

“When we do revisit this program at the end of its expiration in March 2026, we will have more sound and credible and objective data to be able to make an informed decision around its continuation,” Wonsley said.

ShotSpotter was created by SoundThinking Inc., and uses acoustic sensors to identify potential gunshots fired in the city. The location of the possible shots is then sent to law enforcement.

Minneapolis started using ShotSpotter almost two decades ago. According to SoundThinking, ShotSpotter is used in more than 160 cities across the country. But some cities have recently discontinued the technology, citing concerns about its effectiveness.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has said that while the technology isn’t perfect and doesn’t decrease levels of gun violence, it’s a helpful tool that can help police collect evidence and locate gunshot victims. O’Hara was not present for Thursday’s vote.

The post Minneapolis City Council unanimously votes to extend ShotSpotter technology appeared first on Sahan Journal .