ShotSpotter Goes Up Against 911 in Detroit
The short version: SoundThinking's staged Detroit demo pitches ShotSpotter as faster than 911, but it's company marketing, not independent proof, and glosses over accuracy and cost concerns.
Our Take
This clip comes straight from SoundThinking, the company that sells ShotSpotter — so of course the blanks-in-the-park test makes their gunshot detection system look like a slam dunk against a human dialing 911. Credit to SoundThinking for producing the video, but let's be clear about what it is: a promotional reel designed to sell more contracts to more police departments, not an independent audit. Cities from Chicago to San Antonio have canceled or scaled back these deals after finding the system racked up false positives, sent officers into tense confrontations over noises that weren't gunfire, and cost millions with murky results.
The bigger pattern here matters more than any single demo. Surveillance vendors love a good theatrical rollout — a park, some blanks, a stopwatch — because it's easier to sell a feeling of safety than to show hard data on outcomes. ShotSpotter's microphones and Flock's cameras are different technologies, but they're sold with the same playbook: quiet pilot programs, glowing press events, then quietly expanding footprints and data-sharing agreements that residents never voted on and can't opt out of.
If you want to know how far that camera network has already spread near you, check our map, and if you'd rather your city not rubber-stamp the next flashy demo without asking hard questions first, our take-action page has steps for pushing back before the contract is signed.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of SoundThinking, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.