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Gunshots that ring out in East Palo Alto in the future will be tracked by an automatic system that will locate where the shots were fired, decreasing police response time to shootings.
The ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System will be installed by ShotSpotter, a Mountain View company, over the next few months, according to company spokesman Gregg Rowland.
Installation of the system is being funded by anti-crime grants received by the city, assisted by the East Palo Alto Safety Committee, a volunteer organization.
“The use of Shotspotter technology will enable officers to respond to gunshots within seconds and respond to exact locations versus general areas,” Police Chief Ron Davis said. “This will dramatically increase the officers’ ability to arrest the suspect, recover firearms and provide aid to gunshot victims.”
The Mountain View company will first install its system in a portion of the study as a test run and then expand it to the entire city, said Douglas McFarlin, ShotSpotter senior vice president for engineering.
“We are very excited about the system’s potential and for the opportunity to have our city serve as a test site,” East Palo Alto Safety Committee member Letticia Rayson said.
By Don Kazak
This is the best yet to come. This article really touched my heart, my prayer is being answered. I know I am 110% for the bettering of E.P.A. & with the assistance of the East Palo Alto citizens we can pull together and make our “now” youth generation see that anything is possible, if you really want it. I for one will be there to give my input even if it’s a hug. This will be the first step to let our teenagers know that they are loved and with the help of other’s & caring ciitizens we can & will watch East Palo Alto shine, “like I remember how EPA was when I was growing up”. Let’s make our city a place where we can be proud to say, “I am from East Palo Alto”!
My family and grew up in East Palo Alto…25 years we were residents. For us to move, it finally took a random shooting that almost left my innocent, hard-working-college going younger brother dead. We moved with tremendous amounts of sadness and resentment towards 1) Local (corrupt?) government 2) Scared neighbors too afraid to talk and stand up against thugs and mostly a resentment towards 3) Thugs/gangsters/drug dealers that are so completely and utterly mentally challenged, how come they are not in mental institutions? I just hope that East Palo alto, wakes the hell up, especially it’s residents who have the POWER to oust local officials that haven’t done very much for our city in terms of controlling the violence. How come Palo Alto doesn’t have this issue?
In this day and age, why are there still “shots” being fired? I just cannot comprehend why more isn’t being done, from the police department to the damm Mayor of the city. It’s sickening. God help everyone there.
Doris,
Your response touched my heart. I hope there are many more like you who will step forward with the younger generation’s best interests and futures in mind.
Every person, every individual, can willfully decide to change his/her way of thinking at any time. Sometimes it takes an external event to shake up enough people into positive change. Let’s hope that this ShotSpotter is one of those events that triggers a larger movement, one that brings out the hope and vision you describe so optimistically.