Police reached ShotSpotter alerts faster than 911 shot reports

New York City's Comptroller found that in June 2023 police reached ShotSpotter alerts 1 minute 38 seconds faster on average than 911 reports of outdoor shots.

  • 1 an organization

    Officers reached alert locations 1 minute 38 seconds sooner on average than outdoor shots reported to 911 in June 2023.

  • Not rated society

    The audit does not link faster arrival to victims helped or shootings solved, and most alerts were not confirmed as shootings.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Reported and intended benefits.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

An independent audit report supports the benefit.

Compared with

NYPD response to 911 calls about outdoor gunfire in June 2023. Measured.

Without the system
5 minutes 28 seconds for 911
With it
3 minutes 50 seconds for ShotSpotter
The system’s part
Not isolated. The auditors compared response times to two different sets of incidents in one month, and the time that callers take to dial 911 is not in the data. ShotSpotter's reviewers confirm or change the machine classification before an alert goes out, so the faster response belongs to the sensors, the classifier and the reviewers together.
Limits
Not yet checked.
Costs and harms
Not yet checked.
Later
Not yet checked.

Download data Cite Suggest a correction

Benefit type
Reduced Task Time
System
ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection and Location System
Made by
ShotSpotter, Inc. (renamed SoundThinking, Inc. on 10 April 2023)
Used by
New York City Police Department (NYPD)
Where
New York City, United States
Stage
In routine use
Date
Kind
Aggregate result
Broad benefit
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
Collections
Scrutiny and findings
Last revised
31 October 2026

Sources

  1. Audit report, by authors with no tie to the system.

    Office of the New York City Comptroller, Bureau of Audit. Audit Report on the New York City Police Department's Oversight of Its Agreement with ShotSpotter Inc. for the Gunshot Detection and Location System. FP23-074A, 20 June 2024.

    The audit analyzed the two data sets, NYPD’s internal OCD ShotSpotter Tracking report and the Open Data NYPD Call for Service report, and found that during the month of June 2023 average response times to ShotSpotter alerts were 1 minute and 38 seconds faster than response times to reports to 911 of outdoor shots fired

Details

AI system

Workflow

Acoustic sensors in the coverage areas picked up possible gunshots. ShotSpotter reviewers confirmed or changed each machine classification, in a review designed to take less than 60 seconds. Alerts reached officers' phones through the NYPD's Domain Awareness System.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

Sensors must cover the areas where shootings occur. Reviewers must screen out fireworks and other loud sounds.

Entry details

Sector

Policing (gunfire detection).

Purpose

ShotSpotter built its Gunshot Detection and Location System to detect and locate possible gunfire with acoustic sensors and alert police.

Not yet checked: model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, AI contribution, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, every money question, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.

Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Police reached ShotSpotter alerts faster than 911 shot reports (AIBD-0678). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 31 October 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0678.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 4.0)

BibTeX Data Field definitions