ShotSpotter cut Fayetteville dispatch times by about two minutes

In an evaluation for the City of Fayetteville, officers were dispatched in ~69 seconds after ShotSpotter alerts against ~204 seconds after 911 calls alone. Victim outcomes could not be assessed.

  • 2 for an organization

    Officers were dispatched about 135 seconds sooner and arrived about two minutes sooner after ShotSpotter alerts than after 911 calls alone in the three zones.

  • Not rated society

    The evaluators had no outcome data for 911-only incidents, could not show better investigative or victim outcomes and found no fall in gunfire in the zones.

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

Status
Partly reported benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

Only the evaluators support the benefit.

Size

No magnitude yet: distribution is not documented.

Compared with

911 calls alone about shots fired in the three ShotSpotter coverage zones. Measured.

Without the system
~204 seconds on average from receipt to dispatch after a 911 call alone
With it
~69 seconds after a ShotSpotter alert alone, ~68 seconds with a 911 call as well
The system’s part
The evaluators compared dispatch and arrival times for incidents reported by ShotSpotter alerts, by 911 calls and by both in the same zones, which isolates the alert's part in the faster dispatch. Alerts pass through SoundThinking's human reviewers before publication, and the report does not separate the detection software from that review.
Learns from data

Shown. SoundThinking's product page says that audio from reviewed incidents is kept to train the machine learning model that filters detections. The lead document describes the sensors and the human review and does not describe the classifier.

“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.” Source

Not yet checked
LimitsCosts and harmsLater outcome

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Benefit type
Reduced Task Time
System
ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection system
Made by
SoundThinking, Inc. (formerly ShotSpotter, Inc.)
Used by
Fayetteville Police Department, under a City of Fayetteville agreement with SoundThinking
Where
Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
Stage
In a pilot
Date
, when the source was published
Kind
Aggregate result
Broad benefit
Physical health, Operational improvement (crime reduction or prevention)
Collections
Scrutiny and findings
Last revised
1 November 2026

Sources

  1. Evaluation report, by an evaluator that the makers or users commissioned.

    Gettleman, Jessica and Tyler Kendall. Evaluation of Fayetteville's ShotSpotter Installation: Results from the First 18 Months. Wilson Center for Science and Justice, Duke University School of Law, August 2025.

    Police are dispatched more quickly following ShotSpotter alerts compared to 911 calls alone. Dispatch times were over 2 minutes faster for ShotSpotter alerts than for 911 calls alone in the ShotSpotter coverage zones.
    dispatch times were significantly longer when FPD received only a 911 call (~204 seconds on average across the three zones) compared to when FPD received either a ShotSpotter alert alone (~69 seconds) or a ShotSpotter alert in addition to a 911 call (~68 seconds)
    FPD officers arrive on scene more quickly in response to ShotSpotter alerts (~422 seconds or about 7 minutes across the three zones) or ShotSpotter alerts paired with 911 calls (~375 seconds or over 6 minutes), compared to 911 calls alone (~541 seconds or about 9 minutes)
    We are unable to assess, however, whether this faster response has resulted in improved investigative or victim outcomes.

  2. 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

Sensors covered three zones of about one square mile each, 2.93 square miles in all, chosen for their high rates of gun violence. Coverage began on 26 September 2023 under an agreement that the City signed with SoundThinking in 2022. The evaluators compared dispatch and arrival times for ShotSpotter alerts, 911 calls and both, from March 2022 to March 2025.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

Gunfire must occur inside a coverage zone. Police must dispatch officers to alerts as they do to 911 calls.

Entry details

Sector

Policing (gunfire detection).

Purpose

ShotSpotter built its gunshot detection system to locate outdoor gunfire with acoustic sensors and alert police to each incident.

30 more questions not yet checked

model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, 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 benefit

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). ShotSpotter cut Fayetteville dispatch times by about two minutes (AIBD-1216). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 2 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1216.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 9.0)

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