What happened
ShotSpotter, now SoundThinking, sells gunshot detection that triangulates the location of gunfire with acoustic sensors and alerts police. Trauma surgeons at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, reviewed all shootings in Camden from 2010 to 2018 in a study published in December 2019. They drew response, transport and clinical data from medical and police records. Of 627 shootings that met the inclusion criteria, 190, or 30%, activated the ShotSpotter system. Victims in those shootings were more severely injured, more likely to be transported by police and more likely to receive blood products. ShotSpotter activation reduced both response time and transport time for police and for EMS (all p < 0.05). Mortality adjusted for distance, injury severity and shock index did not differ between the two groups. The authors conclude that the technology may help the care of victims of penetrating trauma. The comparison is observational, and the abstract gives no time figures. One author is at the Camden County Police Department, which receives the alerts, so the study is in part the deployer's account.
Sources
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Peer-reviewed study, by the organization that used it.
Goldenberg A, Rattigan D, Dalton M, Gaughan JP, Thomson JS, Remick K, Butts C, Hazelton JP. Use of ShotSpotter detection technology decreases prehospital time for patients sustaining gunshot wounds. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 2019;87(6):1253-1259. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000002483.
The activation of the ShotSpotter technology increased the likelihood of police transport of gunshot victims. Furthermore, the use of this technology resulted in shorter response times as well as transport times for both police and EMS.
ShotSpotter activation significantly reduced both the response time as well as transport time for both police and EMS (all p < 0.05).
Mortality, when adjusted for distance, Trauma, and Injury Severity Score, Injury Severity Score, and shock index, was not significantly different between ShotSpotter and non-ShotSpotter incidents.
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Other, by the makers. Context or contrary evidence.
SoundThinking. ShotSpotter Gunshot Detection System, product page.
If an incident is created and sent to our Incident Review Center the short audio snippet is stored permanently for evidentiary purposes as well as to train the machine learning model.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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Acoustic sensors covered parts of Camden, and alerts went to the police when the system detected gunfire. The surgeons compared shootings with and without ShotSpotter activation, using medical and police records from 2010 to 2018.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The shooting must occur where sensors can detect it. Police must respond to alerts and transport victims or call EMS.
Entry details
- Sector
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Policing and emergency medical response (gunfire detection).
- Purpose
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ShotSpotter built its gunshot detection system to locate outdoor gunfire with acoustic sensors and alert police to each incident.
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Cite this benefit
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). ShotSpotter alerts got Camden gunshot victims to hospital sooner (AIBD-1215). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 2 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1215.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 9.0)