Crime Displacement Due to Gunshot Detection Technology: Preliminary Results from Three Cities

• In Event: Utility of Gunshot Detection Technology in Exploring Crime Trends and Their Impact

Abstract

For many inner-city communities, firearm crime is a part of daily life. Firearm violence is estimated to cost $174 billion in medical costs and lost productivity annually. And these costs fall disproportionally across urban communities; primarily affecting individuals with low incomes, young men of color, and those who are uninsured. To best accurately and comprehensively capture these incidents for the sake of identifying patterns and trends, law enforcement agencies across the country have installed gunshot detection technology (GDT) systems.

The Urban institute is conducting a 36-month process, impact, and cost-benefit evaluation of GDT use by police agencies in Milwaukee, WI; Denver, CO; and Richmond, CA. While GDT has been adopted by many cities nationwide, there is a lack of information on whether and how the technology affects firearms violence. Using pre- and post-intervention crime and GDT sensor data, this paper presents preliminary analyses as to whether firearm related crime and other Part I crimes are impacted by the implementation of GDT across three cities. Specifically, we use Kernel density maps to create visual representations of crime concentrations in areas covered by and surrounding GDT deployment at two different points in time. Implications of these analyses are discussed.

Authors

• Daniel Lawrence, RTI International

• Margaret Goff, Urban Institute

• Nancy La Vigne, Urban Institute