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Overcast Ford secures funding for ShotSpotter in L.B.
System designed to reduce shootings citywide
Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford and Nassau County Presiding Officer Norma L. Gonsalves announced last week that they had secured $500,000 in funding to bring the ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection and Location System to the Long Beach Police Department. ShotSpotter utilizes sophisticated technology to pinpoint the exact location of gunfire and immediately alert law enforcement to incidents of gunfire in real time.
“There have been many shootings recently in Long Beach’s North Park area, and I’ve seen the success that the Nassau County Police Department has had using ShotSpotter to identify the exact location of gunfire and the perpetrator using the gun,” said Ford. “I am thrilled to be a part of bringing this program to our city because it will help us to reduce, and even prevent, gun violence in our community.”
The funding will cover the program for five years, and the system would be installed citywide, Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said.
The news comes after a spat of recent shooting in Long Beach this summer including two in the North Park neighborhood at the Channel Park Homes and one in the West End.
“This program is identified as a program that is doable in Long Beach, that it is needed in Long Beach and thank goodness Legislator Ford was able to get the funding for that program,” City Council President Len Torres said at the council’s July 21 meeting.
ShotSpotter helps local law enforcement by directing police to the precise location of illegal gunfire incidents enabling first responders to aid victims, collect evidence and quickly apprehend armed, dangerous offenders. The system uses mounted detectors and cameras to record the number of shots fired, whether the shooter was stationary or moving and essential audio playback of the gunshot event whenever gunfire is detected.
“It will give us definitive information that a shot was fired, and because it works on a triangulation principal it will tell us exactly where the shot came form,” Tangney said. He added that the system should be in place within the calendar year, pending final approval by the county executive.
