West Columbia has a new tool it hopes will help deter gun violence.

As Police Chief Marion Boyce told City Council Aug. 15, his department has installed the same ShotSpotter technology that the City of Columbia has utilized since 2019. 

The technology, installed access a square mile of West Columbia, provides “ real-time alerts [to] police precisely when and where gun incidents occur, resulting in a faster, more accurate response to the scene to better attend to gunshot victims, recover evidence, and interview witnesses,” according to a press statement from the city’s police department.

 “The ShotSpotter technology uses a series of small strategically placed audio sensors,” the statement explains. “When a gunshot occurs, the sensors work instantly to triangulate the sound and pinpoint the number of shots fired and their exact locations. Trained ShotSpotter acoustic experts are on duty 24/7 to review and classify all gunfire incidents before immediately alerting local law enforcement — all within a minute but usually within 30 seconds.”

The technology isn’t without its critics. The ACLU published a report last year questioning ShotSpotter’s “methodology, effectiveness, impact on communities of color, and relationship with law enforcement.”

But ShotSpotter emphasizes that it gets results. In a report from the year after Columbia installed the technology, the company says that in the first six months, “police received 778 alerts that resulted in 205 separate crime scenes within an area of the city where 75% of gunshots went unreported. Columbia PD estimated officers responded to 150 scenes during that time that they would not have visited without ShotSpotter, resulting in 39 arrests and 49 guns confiscated.”

The West Columbia Police statement emphasizes that ShotSpotter can’t combat gun violence on its own.

 “ShotSpotter technology is just one tool that we have at our disposal,” Boyce is quoted. “Our best tool by far is our community. Please continue to notify our dispatchers if you hear gunfire and if you have information that could help us investigate these and other crimes of violence.”

“I am very thankful that we’ve been able to activate ShotSpotter in our community,” Mayor Tem Miles is quoted. “It will allow the police department to better respond to potential gun shots and hopefully address individuals who continually make problems in our community.”