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Impact of ShotSpotter Technology on Firearm Homicides and Arrests Among Large Metropolitan Counties: a Longitudinal Analysis, 1999-2016 - PubMed

Impact of ShotSpotter Technology on Firearm Homicides and Arrests Among Large Metropolitan Counties: a Longitudinal Analysis, 1999-2016

Mitchell L Doucette et al. J Urban Health. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Over the past decade, large urban counties have implemented ShotSpotter, a gun fire detection technology, across the USA. It uses acoustic listening devices to identify discharged firearms' locations. We examined the effect of ShotSpotter with a pooled, cross-sectional time-series analysis within the 68 large metropolitan counties in the USA from 1999 to 2016. We identified ShotSpotter implementation years through publicly available media. We used a Poisson distribution to model the impact of ShotSpotter on firearm homicides, murder arrests, and weapons arrests. ShotSpotter did not display protective effects for all outcomes. Counties in states with permit-to-purchase firearm laws saw a 15% reduction in firearm homicide incidence rates; counties in states with right-to-carry laws saw a 21% increase in firearm homicide incidence rates. Results suggest that implementing ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on firearm-related homicides or arrest outcomes. Policy solutions may represent a more cost-effective measure to reduce urban firearm violence.

Keywords: Firearm violence; Gunshot detection technology; Injury prevention; Urban crime.

© 2021. The New York Academy of Medicine.

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Figures

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Fig. 1

Firearm homicide rates among large metropolitan counties by ShotSpotter Implementation Status, 1999–2016

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Fig. 2

Murder and weapons arrest rates per 100,00 population among large metropolitan counties, by ShotSpotter Implementation Status 1999-2016

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Fig. 3

Lead and lag models for ShotSpotter implementation and firearm homicides among large metropolitan counties, 1999–2016

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Fig. 4

Lead and lag models for ShotSpotter implementation and murder arrests among large metropolitan counties, 1999–2016

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Fig. 5

Lead and lag models for ShotSpotter implementation and weapons arrests among large metropolitan counties, 1999–2016

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