The Sparks City Council unanimously renewed its gunshot detection services contract with SoundThinking, formerly ShotSpotter, at its Feb. 23 council meeting.
Initially a trial run, the Sparks Police Department now has an extended three-year contract with SoundThinking Inc. through 2029 at a cost of $1.19 million.
During the meeting, Sparks Chief of Police Chris Crawforth said the gunshot-detection technology is essential.
“It helps us get to victims sooner, to clear the area, make it safer for our partners in the fire and EMS to come in,” Crawforth said.
He presented a dashboard that provided statistics from the past 32 months — emphasizing how much the technology has helped them to solve crime.
Cindy Martinez, a Sparks resident, raised concerns about the presentation, saying it presents inaccurate information, including omitting the number of false alarms that gunshot-detection technology may generate.
Another resident, Christian D. Brown, raised a different concern.
“I don’t want us to keep adding more and more mass surveillance to everything around here, you know, with Flock, with ring cameras, with all this stuff that just keeps adding on,” Brown said.
Mayor Ed Lawson said he loves the technology.
“Working backward from casings to gun, I think it's pretty smart policing,” he said.
The Sparks Police Department will continue operating the technology.
