15 Groups Ask Worcester Police To Abandon Crime Prediction Tool

WORCESTER, MA — More than a dozen local groups have signed a letter asking Worcester to drop a bid to pay for a controversial software tool that purportedly helps police predict crime hot spots

The 15 groups say research shows software like ShotSpotter Connect harms communities of color. Worcester police say the Connect tool would help deploy officers more efficiently, and Chief Steven Sargent described it as a crime forecasting tool in a memo to City Council.

"Based on the growing body of evidence and voices raising serious doubts about the use of predictive policing, we cannot support any proposal to implement ShotSpotter Connect in Worcester," the letter says.

The letter also cites the "revelation that this software was agreed to without community or City Council consent." Worcester police signed an agreement to adopt ShotSpotter Connect in December before the issue was revealed to the public, documents obtained by Patch showed.

ShotSpotter Connect was first publicized at a City Council meeting in mid-January. Since then, the ShotSpotter company, which provides Worcester with gunshot detection equipment, has presented the Connect tool during several public meetings.

By adopting ShotSpotter Connect, Worcester police would get a discount on expanding gunshot detection equipment to the Brittan Square and Bell Hill neighborhoods. That discount is worth about $80,000. However, the long-term cost of both the new gunshot detection equipment and Connect would be above $1 million through 2023, police documents show.

City Manager Edward Augustus has agreed to use about $148,000 from his own contingency fund to expand the gunshot detection equipment while the Connect tool is up for debate. The letter asks Augustus use that money instead to pay for a new school safety plan. The gunshot detection expansion should be paid for out of the police budget, the letter says.

The letter sent this week was signed by: the ACLU of Massachusetts, Amplify Black Voices, Black Families Together, Defund WPD, Hadwen Park Congregational Church, NAACP Worcester Branch, Neighbor to Neighbor Education Fund, Racism-Free WPS, Rock of Salvation, Showing Up for Racial Justice-Worcester, Sunrise Worcester, The ReVive Effect, the Worcester Democratic Socialists of America, Worcester Friends Meeting, Worcester Interfaith and Worcester Roots Project.

Here's the full letter:

Org Letter Opposing ShotSpotter Connect by Neal McNamara on Scribd