Reposted from DHS, S&T

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has released an Operational Field Assessment (OFA) of a gunshot detection system developed for first responders.

First used by the military to detect incoming fire, gunshot detection systems use multiple sensor units to detect and triangulate the precise location of firearm discharges.

Over the last decade, law enforcement agencies in many large- and medium-sized cities have implemented gunshot detection systems. Most agencies employ fixed systems, where the sensors are installed indoors or at fixed outdoor locations to provide gunshot detection over a large, pre-defined area (often many square miles) to an accuracy of within a few feet.

An October 2022 Department of Justice-funded report analyzed how agencies across the country are currently using gunshot detection systems. The report concluded that more research is still needed to show whether gunshot detection systems are effective at deterring gun violence or reducing crime, but that there are proven benefits of these systems for first responders. Benefits to responders include significant reductions in response times and better situational awareness.

Gunshot detection systems are typically integrated into computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, enabling real-time alerting. Since many gunshots are never reported to 911, this capability enables responders to immediately dispatch to the scene regardless of whether 911 was called. Some systems will bypass the 911 system entirely and provide alerts directly to officers. This reduces response times by several vital minutes, which gives responders a better chance at neutralizing the threat and reducing casualties.

Gunshot detection systems can also provide critical situational awareness information to first responders before arrival on scene, such as precise locations where gunshots were fired and whether multiple types of gunshots were detected, suggesting multiple shooters.

The gunshot detection system evaluated by S&T in the new OFA improves on the technology currently available on the market in several ways.

First, the system is designed to be portable. While there are portable systems currently on the market, S&T’s system prioritized the ease with which the technology could be installed, moved, and set up by responders without requiring more than two officers or technical expertise.

Second, most current systems use acoustic technology to detect the sound of gunshots, but this system uses both light and sound. The system can detect the unique flash of light produced when a bullet is fired. This added light detection makes the system more accurate than systems which rely on sound alone. It is less likely to generate false positives when it detects gun-like sounds such as a vehicle misfiring or fireworks.

Six law enforcement officers from Iowa, New Hampshire, and New York served as evaluators to test and provide feedback on the gunshot detection system. These officers set up the outdoor sensors, overlayed maps and sensors using the situational awareness software, observed gunshot detection notifications on a PC and mobile device, and participated in a debrief with S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) to gather feedback.

S&T released a Tech Speak Minisode featuring interviews with the evaluators about their feedback on the system earlier this year. The full results of the operational field assessment are available in the report.