Independent Monitor Says Gunfire Incidents in Camden Down

Gunfire incidents are down in Camden by 48.5 percent for the first half of 2014 compared to the first half of 2013, according to ShotSpotter Flex’s National Gunfire Index.

ShotSpotter Flex is the global leader in gunfire detection and analysis.

Currently, 85 police departments nationwide use ShotSpotter to help combat illegal urban gunfire.

In the first half of 2014, ShotSpotter detected a total of 19,946 separate gunfire incidents in its total coverage area.

Excluding holidays, there were 17,863 incidents, which equates to 98.2 gunfire incidents every day, or 4.1 incidents every hour.

While the number of incidents has declined, at the same time the average number of rounds per incident (3.2) is up around 11 percent.

According to ShotSpotter, the Camden County Police Department measured 93 less individual gunshots fired from the first half of 2013 compared to the first half of 2014. This created a 48.5 percent reduction in gun crime during that period of time from 193 to 99 incidents.

“This is another excellent independent indicator that violent crime is contracting in Camden and that the streets are becoming safer,” Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli said. “By utilizing this innovative technology we are able to proactively address gun crime in focused areas throughout the city and this new index creates overwhelming support for its positive impact.”

“We have two goals, we work to reduce the number of crime victims and make people feel safe in the City of Camden. ShotSpotter helps us do that,” Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said. “We had our first gun arrest within two hours of implementation of this technology, and in the second incident, we were able to apprehend a suspect test firing a high powered rifle. We leverage technology as a ‘force multiplier’; it proactively gets us on the scene of crimes and has proved very effective in helping us reduce gun violence.”

ShotSpotter helps police departments transform their policing practices from reactive to proactive by instantly notifying officers of gunshot crimes in progress with real-time data delivered to dispatch centers, patrol cars and even smartphones.

With real-time alerts, first responders receive precise gunfire incident information, allowing informed decisions for faster emergency response while also improving situation intelligence and increasing first responder safety.

ShotSpotter gunfire data also enables law enforcement agencies to improve evidence collecting, prosecution and overall police effectiveness.

Currently ShotSpotter is deployed across 85 U.S. communities and the Caribbean, totaling more than 225 square miles of coverage area.

The 31 ShotSpotter coverage areas, for which the first half of 2013 and first half of 2014 data were compared and compiled in this latest National Gunfire Index include: Brockton, MA; Camden, NJ; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; East Palo Alto, CA; Fall River, MA; Hartford, CT; Hempstead, NY; Kansas City, MO; Miami Gardens, FL; Milwaukee, WI; New Bedford, MA; New Haven, CT; Oakland, CA; Omaha, NE; Paterson, NJ; Plainfield, NJ; Prince Georges County, MD; Quincy, WA; Rochester, NY; Rocky Mount, NC; Saginaw, MI; San Francisco, CA; St. Croix, USVI; St. Louis, MO; St. Thomas, USVI; Springfield, MA; Suffolk County (Brentwood), NY; Suffolk County (Huntington Station), NY; Suffolk County (N Bellport), NY; Wilmington, NC.