Aldermen Press City On ShotSpotter Delay

Chicago aldermen used a May 12 City Council hearing to demand answers from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration about why Chicago still has no replacement for ShotSpotter nearly 20 months after the city moved to end the system. Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts told the Public Safety Committee that officials were still evaluating bids for a new gunshot-detection contract, but she did not provide a timetable for a decision. (abc7chicago.com) Several aldermen said the lack of detail left residents and police without clarity heading into the summer months, when violence typically rises, according to city officials and council members. Johnson later said he still supports adopting some form of gunshot-detection technology, but said the city needed a thorough review before selecting a vendor. (webapps1.chicago.gov) (news.wttw.com) ### Why were aldermen back on this issue now? The May 12 hearing came after months of criticism from aldermen who said the city had missed its own implied timetable for finding a replacement. Roberts told the committee the procurement had been underway for nearly 19 months and described it as unusually complex, saying contracts of that size can take 18 to 24 months or longer to complete. Ald. Peter Chico of the 10th Ward said during the hearing that “lives are being endangered,” and Ald. Silvana Tabares of the 23rd Ward cited a Thanksgiving-night killing in Garfield Ridge in which, she said, a victim lay in the street for 10 minutes because nobody called 911. Ald. Pat Dowell, the Finance Committee chair, said she had seen a prior shooting in her ward where officers found a victim because gun-detection technology was still operating there at the time. (abc7chicago.com) ### Where does the replacement process stand? The city’s Department of Procurement Services advertised a request for proposals for “Gun Violence Detection Technology” on February 3, 2025, with responses due April 11, 2025, according to the solicitation record. (news.wttw.com) Roberts told aldermen that nine firms submitted bids, including SoundThinking, the company behind ShotSpotter. Roberts said the department could not publicly discuss evaluators, the ranking of proposals or the expected completion date because the procurement remained open and confidential. ABC7 reported that aldermen asked who was on the vetting committee, where the process stood and when it would finish, and were told little beyond Roberts’ statement that staff were “working diligently” and following applicable laws. (abc7chicago.com) ### What exactly did aldermen object to at the hearing? Ald. Brian Hopkins, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said Johnson had promised a replacement system and asked where it was. Ald. Nick Sposato of the 38th Ward said at the close of the hearing that it had been “a total waste of time.” (webapps1.chicago.gov) Ald. Andre Vasquez of the 40th Ward, who had supported removing ShotSpotter, raised a different concern. Vasquez said any replacement should be examined for who would be able to access the surveillance technology, especially with broader worries about federal access to local systems. (abc7chicago.com) ### What has Johnson said about replacing ShotSpotter? Mayor Brandon Johnson shut down ShotSpotter in September 2024 after criticizing the system and saying it contributed to overpolicing in Black and Latino neighborhoods, according to WTTW and other local outlets. Johnson has also said he wanted a better replacement rather than no technology at all. (cbsnews.com) Johnson said after a May 12 event that he remained committed to some form of new technology. He said the city wanted a “thorough vetting process” so that any system it selected would “maximize the full impact” of broader anti-violence efforts. (abc7chicago.com) ### What do the numbers show while the city goes without the system? WTTW reported that Chicago recorded a 60-year low in homicides in 2025, the first full year without a gunshot-detection system. The station cited Chicago Police Department data showing homicides fell about 29% from 2024 and overall violent crime dropped nearly 23% in 2025. (news.wttw.com) The same report said the 12 South and West Side neighborhoods that had ShotSpotter sensors saw about a 32% decline in homicides in 2025 from 2024, citing an analysis by University of Chicago sociologist Rob Vargas. Supporters of a replacement system have nonetheless argued that the technology remains useful because many shootings are never reported to 911. (abc7chicago.com) ### What happens next? The city’s 2026 budget includes $5 million for “software maintenance and licensing” that could be used for a gunshot-detection contract, according to WTTW, down from the $9 million set aside in the 2025 budget for a ShotSpotter replacement. Hopkins said the Public Safety Committee would hold another hearing on June 3 to press for more answers from the Johnson administration as the procurement continues. (news.wttw.com)