Worcester PD Signed ShotSpotter Connect Deal Before Council Knew

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester police in December agreed to adopt a controversial new crime forecasting tool, nearly three weeks before the idea was presented to the public. The full adoption of the ShotSpotter Connect program is on hold pending City Council approval, but emails obtained by Patch show police pushed to close the deal before the end of 2020.

City Manager Edward Augustus presented the Connect plan to City Council on Jan. 19, packaged with a larger expansion of the city's ShotSpotter gunshot detection program. The Oakland, Calif.-based company provides gunshot detection devices to Worcester and scores of other cities across North America.

Worcester police wanted to expand the gunshot detection program for the Bell Hill and Brittan Square neighborhoods. ShotSpotter offered a discount on that expansion if Worcester also piloted Connect, which only five other cities U.S. use.

Connect pitched in fall

ShotSpotter began pitching the Connect software to Worcester police leaders in October, according to emails obtained under a public records request. Augustus was also briefed on Connect in fall 2020, according to the city solicitor's office.

By Dec. 20, Worcester police Deputy Chief Paul Saucier was in talks with ShotSpotter regional director Jack Pontious on an expansion of the city's contract, and the pair discussed whether Worcester would have to go out to bid to adopt the new program.

"Connect is an extension of WPDs [sic] ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology and it enables the agency to utilize our objective gunfire event alerts in creating risk forecasts while also enhancing visibility into patrol management," one email from Pontious read. "We should not need to go to bid and can amend the existing ShotSpotter agreement."

The emails show the company wanted an agreement before the end of 2020 to give Worcester the discount on the gunshot detection program expansion. The discount would save Worcester about $80,000 in the first year, according to police officials. But the combined package of ShotSpotter Connect and the gunshot detection program would cost $192,950 more in the second year.

ShotSpotter was also prepared to give Worcester leeway on paying for the expansion as long as an agreement was in place before 2021.

"The rep from ShotSpotter told me if we can get a signed contract amendment in 2020 we can push payment terms into next year," Saucier wrote in a Dec. 29 email to Chief Financial Officer Timothy McGourthy.

According to the emails, the expanded ShotSpotter gunshot detection system and Connect will cost the city about $1 million through 2023. Worcester would pay in three installments of $328,000, $344,000 and $361,000.

The contract between the city and ShotSpotter for the expansion and Connect was signed on Dec. 31, according to City Solicitor Michael Traynor. The agreement was sent to City Council because it required a budget transfer.

"The item was before the City Council to transfer the funds from one account to another, and for transparency," Traynor said in an email Monday. "The City Manager wanted the Councilors to be informed that the program was expanding."

Even with a signed agreement to adopt Connect, Traynor said the contract could be amended to exclude Connect if Councilors reject the idea.

Council pumped brakes

The City Council was not ready to approve the Connect expansion when presented at the Jan. 19 meeting, although Augustus did volunteer $150,000 from his contingency account to pay for the gunshot detection expansion to Bell Hill and Brittan Square. The Council's public safety subcommittee held a hearing about Connect on Feb. 1 followed by a city-wide public hearing on Feb. 22 featuring a representative from ShotSpotter.

Several City Councilors have expressed support for the idea, although others, including Khrystian King, Sarai Rivera and George Russell, have asked Augustus for more details about the program before moving forward.

Opposition to the adoption of Connect has been primarily led by the Defund WPD group, and dozens of people have spoken against the technology during public meetings. Opponents say Connect is an unproven technology that could reinforce racial bias in policing. Worcester police officials say Connect will help the department deploy resources more efficiently.

Over the weekend, Defund WPD said it filed a complaint with the Secretary of the Commonwealth over a public records request related to Connect. The group is seeking a host of documents, including the new ShotSpotter contract. But the group was told the request would not be complete until March 3 — a day after Tuesday's Council meeting, where the ShotSpotter issue may be up for discussion or a vote.

"This feels like a purposeful attempt to disrupt the public debate over the city’s purchase of ShotSpotter Connect," member Marie Brouillette said in a statement on Saturday. "By withholding this basic information, the city has prevented local journalists and community members from discussing these records at the public safety meeting and at the city-wide crime watch meeting."