ShotSpotter Led Police to Multiple Gunshot Victims Last Month, Sometimes Before Citizens Called 911

According to information released by the Pasadena Police Department on Tuesday, the automated ShotSpotter gunshot detection system recently deployed in parts of the city alerted field officers to 12 shootings in its first 20 days of operation.

In several cases — including the second incident, which happened five days after the system went operational on Feb. 9 and during which 18 shots were recorded — police were called by members of the public long after the incident occurred or never notified at all.

In the Feb. 13 case the ShotSpotter system detected and reported the gunshots at 1:54 p.m. and officers on patrol were instantly notified and arrived at the scene of the shooting at 1:55 p.m., police said. They found an injured woman cut on her forearm from car window glass shattered by a bullet.

“The Police Department has completed its first month of subscription with ShotSpotter,” said Lt. William Grisafe. “We will now begin the process of analyzing the data to gather as much information as we can. Preliminary we have had good results with the system providing officers with the exact locations of gunshots. The alerts have decreased officers’ response times to these potentially life-threatening situations.”

The ShotSpotter gunshot detection system is designed to help law enforcement officials identify, locate and deter gun violence. The real-time alerts notify police precisely when and where gun incidents are occurring, resulting in faster, more accurate responses to the scene to provide medical attention to gunshot victims, recover evidence and interview witnesses.

When a gunshot occurs, the system’s sensors work to triangulate the sound and pinpoint the location of the gunfire. Trained ShotSpotter acoustic experts are on duty 24/7 to review and qualify all gunfire incidents, the company said.

If the acoustic expert determines the sound to be actual gunfire, a detailed alert is sent to the local law enforcement agency. ShotSpotter said the review and alert occur within a minute or less of the actual gunfire event.

In October, the City Council approved a $640,000, three-year contract for the software.

Pasadena police seized 17 firearms in February, according to information released on Tuesday.

The February statistics bring the total of confiscated weapons for the first two months of the year to 38 weapons.

In total, 16 guns and one automatic weapon were seized last month.

Most of the weapons were seized during traffic stops.

One of the most disturbing incidents occurred on Feb. 27 when police recovered a unserialized gun with an extended magazine on Summit Street.

An extended magazine allows a gun to hold more rounds and fire more shots before reloading. Also known as a high-capacity magazine, the devices can hold more than 10 bullets.

Police recovered the weapon after receiving a call for service.

regarding a disturbance in the 1100 block of N. Summit Ave. When officers arrived on scene, they learned the occupants inside the vehicle that left the location as the officers were arriving, were in possession of a firearm.

Officers initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle, and a passenger admitted to being in possession of the firearm.

Earlier in the month on Feb. 5, officers stopped a vehicle in the area of Colorado Boulevard and Virginia Avenue for a vehicle code violation. Upon contacting the driver, officers discovered the driver was unlicensed and had previously been convicted of a felony. After searching the vehicle, police discovered a weapon. Because of his previous felony conviction, the driver was arrested for the weapons violation.

Police also continued to confiscate unserialized ghost guns during traffic stops.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. on February 15, local police officers conducted a traffic stop near Sunset Avenue. and Yale Street and located illegal narcotics and a ghost gun.

The driver was arrested.

Police also recovered a ghost gun in the same area on Feb. 26 during a traffic stop.

All told in February, police answered 8,840 calls for service in February, including 4,855 911 calls according to information released on Tuesday.

“The proliferation of ghost guns is a concern not only for law enforcement, but for all community members,” Grisafe said. “There are certain individuals who are restricted from either purchasing or possessing firearms. Ghost guns allow these restricted individuals to circumvent the prohibitions, resulting in unserialized guns falling into the wrong hands.”