INDIANAPOLIS — Police in Indianapolis are making it clear that they will continue to respond to 911 calls about gunshots, but moving forward they are no longer responding to reports of shots fired from gunshot detection technology throughout the city.
The moratorium on gunshot detection response is not permanent, at least not yet. The plan now is to have independent researchers at IUPUI analyze the data from IMPD’s trial run with the gunshot tech to see if it is something worth investing in further.
“How many alerts did we have? How many times did we find something? How many times did we have a positive interaction? How many times did we render aid,” said Cmdr. Matthew Thomas with IMPD on what they will be looking for within the data collected.
On the surface, Thomas told WISH-TV that they have already seen benefits in using gunshot detection to respond to incidents.
“If our officers can get there and have a positive interaction and hear the concerns of someone on a street where there were gunshots, that’s a win,” he said.
For the time being, IMPD is going back to the way things were before when it comes to responding to shots fired. That being old-fashioned 911 calls which Thomas encourages you to do if you see something happen.
“We will continue to respond to your 911 calls about gunshots,” he said. “This happened before gunshot detection systems and this will happen after. We need our calls.”
One of the things IMPD is considering moving forward when it comes to gunshot detection is whether or not it is worth your taxpayer money. Up until now the gunshot detectors that have been in use have been through a pilot program and have not cost taxpayers any money. That would change if IMPD decides to implement the technology full-time.
