Cambridge is restarting its use of a controversial technology aimed at detecting gunfire on city streets.
After significant input from the public and debate among lawmakers, city council on Monday voted 6-3 to bring back ShotSpotter temporarily, less than three months after the board voted to end its contract with the company.
But councilors also plan to create a panel of residents to consider whether the city should continue using the technology in the long run.
The decision came a month after 32-year-old city resident and public works employee Xavier Bautista was fatally shot a few blocks from Central Square on the Fourth of July. Cambridge police have said Bautista’s life might have been saved if ShotSpotter sensors were still activated in Cambridge.
City Councilor Tim Flaherty said last month’s shooting death of Bautista prompted an outcry to bring back ShotSpotter.
“They told us overwhelmingly that they demanded ShotSpotter,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “I certainly hope that we’ll move forward and turn ShotSpotter back on to improve public safety, help solve crimes, and save lives.”
Estelle Disch, a Cambridge resident, encouraged councilors to reinstate the acoustic technology.
“This will give the city a chance to talk with people who live in the neighborhoods most affected by gun violence in order to find out whether or not they want either it, or something similar, or not,” she said. “It will also give the city time to explore how ShotSpotter data are used.”
Other residents pushed back, calling on city leaders to hold to their decision from May to end the contract with ShotSpotter.
“I am horrified at (Bautista’s) death. This does not change my opposition to ShotSpotter as an invasive form of surveillance in my neighborhood,” said Catherine Sylvester, who said she lives a block from the shooting.
Gideon Epstein, an attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts and a Cambridge resident, said the council should consider whether the technology’s benefits outweigh the risks.
“It’s tempting to turn to surveillance technology in the wake of a tragedy,” Epstein told councilors. “But it is ineffective at reducing gun violence. It routinely deploys officers to scenes where they find no evidence a gun was fired. And during the last 12 years the technology has been active in Cambridge, there is no evidence that it helped Cambridge Police solve serious crimes or help them to hold perpetrators of gun violence accountable.”
The company behind ShotSpotter, California-based SoundThinking Inc., said through a spokesperson that it appreciates the city’s decision to restore use of its technology.
“First and foremost, our thoughts remain with the family, friends, and colleagues of Xavier Bautista, whose tragic death has deeply affected the entire Cambridge community,” the spokesperson said. “While no technology can prevent every act of violence, ShotSpotter is designed to help ensure that when gunfire occurs — especially in the many cases where no one calls 911 — first responders receive immediate, precise information so they can reach victims faster, render aid, and begin an investigation without delay.”
