ShotSpotter Scientific Flexibility Uncovered - Chicago Justice Show
The short version: The Chicago Justice Project exposes ShotSpotter bending its "gunshot science" for CPD, a reminder that surveillance vendors answer to police contracts, not the truth.
Our Take
The Chicago Justice Project's latest episode digs into reporting that ShotSpotter altered its acoustic gunfire analysis at the Chicago Police Department's request, undercutting the company's claim to be an objective, data-driven tool. This is the same pattern we track with ALPR vendors like Flock Safety: a private company sells law enforcement a product marketed as neutral and scientific, then quietly adjusts outputs to fit what its biggest customer wants to hear. When the vendor's bottom line depends on police satisfaction, "science" becomes negotiable.
The show also connects this to CPD's gang databases and the demotion of Commander Jake Alderden covered by CWB Chicago, plus a Joliet PD incident the hosts use as a case study in eroding public trust. Taken together, it's a snapshot of how surveillance infrastructure — audio sensors, license plate cameras, gang lists — gets built and maintained with little independent oversight, and how easily it can be shaped to serve institutional interests rather than public safety or accuracy.
Credit to the Chicago Justice Project for pulling these threads together in one episode. If you want to see where this kind of infrastructure is already watching your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on unaccountable surveillance contracts, visit our take-action page.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Chicago Justice Project, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.