Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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ShotSpotter is a company who installs microphones, including in South Africa, in some cities which allow the company to inform police departments of shootings. Sensors are placed on top of buildings, or sometimes on top of light poles that record audio and when three or more sensors pick up a noise they can triangulate where the noise is coming from. The information is relayed from wherever it is recorded around the world to the offices of ShotSpotter in California where analysts then confirm the shots and notify the police department where a shooting is taking place. It usually takes them about 30 to 45 seconds to notify the police department and obviously it makes it a lot easier to sometimes get to the scenes of a crime faster than waiting for phone calls to start coming in. It is obviously a very expensive system to implement, but it is something which really works very well if it could be installed in all cities in South Africa. New York City is increasing its ShotSpotter coverage and various other major cities are looking into it. Where it becomes very expensive is obviously the larger an area you cover, the more it costs. ShotSpotter has revealed that normally within two years of the system being moved into an area, gunfire incidents go down 34.7%. Other things that are interesting is that predictably, most shots are fired at night, typically between 8pm and 2am, and the busiest time for shootings, for an entire week, are on Saturday mornings between 2am and 3am. Incidentally, that often seems to coincide with the shootings outside nightclubs, etc.
The city in South Africa that is using ShotSpotter is Cape Town, leading as they usually do in so many ways. Cape Town has deployed the technology over a small area though, just 7 square kilometres in the high crime areas of Manenberg and Hanover Park. Cape Town implemented the system in July 2016. In July they had 211 shootings in the area, in August they had 128 and by September they were down to 31. It is also being used on a very limited scale in the Kruger National Park to try and fight Rhino poachers. Imagine the potential if we could afford to put that across more crime-ridden spots or more wildlife areas.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Monday 30-Oct-17
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Comments
Nicolle said:
on Friday 24-Nov-17 03:32 PM
Innovative. However, in my opinion, I do not think this will make any difference in the response time that we receive from the South African Police Services. The poor person at HQ California will probably spend 30 minutes to an hour simply trying to get the SAPS to answer their phones.
Ashleigh said:
on Monday 13-Nov-17 08:38 AM
First time hearing of this so I'm very surprised. This is actually great news. South Africa needs this in order to try decrease the crime rate somehow. I just hope that there is enough law enforcement to handle these detectors.
Sarah said:
on Monday 13-Nov-17 08:12 AM
This is really amazing technology, they should put it up all over South Africa.
Zindy said:
on Monday 13-Nov-17 08:07 AM
First time I have heard of this.. How interesting and what a great idea. Government should fund more projects involving this.
Liz said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 04:59 PM
How wonderful it would be if these could be installed in all crime ridden countries. The system does not necessarily mean that shootings will be prevented in that very situation but it does ensure that criminals will be apprehended so much faster and on the spot and will mean that other criminals will be deterred from doing the same.
Melissa said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 12:12 PM
This is a great way to catch these idiots. This will really decrease the crime rate.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 10:10 AM
This sounds like a great invention and it will help decrease crime but not eliminate it completely- That's for sure.
A step in the right direction.
Michelle said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 09:59 AM
Anything that will help reduce the crime rate will be better than nothing. This sound like a very interesting device, I have never heard of it before. And as stated in the blog it’s not only a good thing for crime but also poachers.
Angelique P said:
on Wednesday 01-Nov-17 07:35 AM
South Africa definitely needs a lot of these devices. It's ridiculous how much crime we have and something needs to be done to lower the rate. There are too many people that get away with murder. Hopefully when this ShotSpotter gets installed in South Africa the police will be more alert as well.
Joyce said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 05:00 PM
I think microphones from ShotSpotter Company are amazing and help in reducing crime, would be better and hope for lesser killings if all cities in South Africa were to use ShotSpotter microphones
Nicky said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 04:28 PM
This sounds like a very good device to assist with lowering the crime rate in SA and hopefully also increasing SAPS' response time.
Nikita said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 04:24 PM
This is a very impressive step in technology. I like that they are using it in the Kruger Park and I hope that they start using it more to save as many Rhinos as possible.
Tersia said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 04:14 PM
Wow can you imagine if that could be implemented throughout South Africa. I think it's great that they are using it to try and reduce rhino poaching. It should definitely be used in the wildlife areas.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 03:38 PM
What a great invention. If it helps preventing crime or even just minimising it I'm all for it.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 02:13 PM
It is an amazing thing for South Africa.Anything to help fight crime in this Country. They have to add a ShotSpotter in the High Crime areas. This will hopefully reduce crime.
Thabitha said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 12:58 PM
We need it here in South Africa especially in our locations the crime rate is so high and police take time to attend the scene.
Mathilda said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 12:32 PM
This is really a great invention, I think South Africa should definitely take advantage and get a ShotSpotter in all the High Crime areas especial where there is a lot of gang violence
Jadine Richards said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 09:43 AM
In terms of reducing death toll in terrorism incidents this would surely help a great deal and I can understand why it would be popular internationally. However, when it comes to South Africa even though there was improvement in Cape Town I am doubtful as to how effective it would be. South African criminals do not seem to be phased by much of anything. I can imagine they would be more annoyed if police arrived on the scene earlier than they would otherwise have and interrupted whatever they were getting into. It is still impressive technology and if implemented in Johannesburg could surely save some lives.
patrick said:
on Tuesday 31-Oct-17 08:15 AM
It is an amazing thing that our country with so many gun related crimes should be embracing and using it to the fullest. It will go a long way to reduce crime.
Jadine E said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 04:05 PM
Another great intervention but so slow in transforming the Johannesburg crime stats.
Liesl said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 03:35 PM
It's a brilliant invention and if it can be afforded will definitely assist high crime areas etc. Crime not only affects the immediate victim/s but their loved ones and family as well. Everyday there are people mourning a loved one due to murder etc
Suzanne said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 12:19 PM
I was not aware of anything like this and I am impressed. Anything to help fight crime and ensure safety (or alert when something is wrong) is extremely handy and necessary, especially is SA.
Bianca R said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 11:20 AM
I think that anything that will reduce crime/violence is a must. This is the first time that I have heard of this technology and I really do think that it is extremely great, if one looks at the stats from Cape Town, it can only be beneficial to the country and it's people. I do however believe that in order to implement the amount of devices needed, it will take a substantial amount of time due to finances.
Daniella said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 11:13 AM
I think this is really innovative, it would be great if they also made the shotSpotter recognize cries of help and pick up distress in peoples voices to locate rape, stabbings etc. but this is truly a great step in the right direction.
Alexis said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 09:56 AM
Quite a fascinating thing to have been created. If it can stop crime - why not hey - or at least bring it down
Lucretia said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 09:06 AM
I am so amazed by the technology some people think of. Some people see crime and speak about it, others see crime and see a job opportunity. I am extremely happy to hear them putting this into the Kruger National Park, hopefully this will leave something for our kids and grandkids to feast their eyes on......
Clare said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 08:12 AM
This is really something that I would really like to see, I think that this should be all over South Africa, including Farms I really want the crime in South Africa and all over the world to end and I wish we could all live in peace life is so sort and people should have less anger in there hearts.
Natasha said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 08:08 AM
I think that South Africa should get shotspotter maybe then the crime will go down. People will think twice before shooting at someone
Jessica Apfel said:
on Monday 30-Oct-17 07:46 AM
Of the 200 odd shootings, I would like to know how many arrests transpired? It is only one example of how technology is advancing and can help South Africa in their quest to eradicate crime. It should be set up in gang affected areas - I am sure the shootings within these areas happen often and not reported due to fear.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
