Tell Ralph Clark, ShotSpotter CEO: Stop surveilling and harming our communities

Police are using audio surveillance tech in our communities, Indiana. It's time we stop it.

As salaamu alaykum, Indiana —

Last year, Chicago police killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo after a ShotSpotter alert brought officers into his neighborhood.

Adam Toledo was shot with his hands up. The officer who killed Toledo is no longer on active duty — but ShotSpotter, the technology that led police to pursue and kill Toledo, still is.¹

Communities across the country, from NYC to Oakland, are organizing to Stop ShotSpotter surveillance. But they need our help.

Tell ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark: Stop surveilling our communities.

ShotSpotter contracts with police in over 100 cities and installs microphones in overwhelmingly Black, brown, and marginalized communities.² When ShotSpotter tech picks up a loud sound (like a backfiring car or fireworks) police follow up in a heightened state of alert.

Three things you should know about ShotSpotter: 

1. ShotSpotter supercharges racist policing and surveillance.

In Chicago, ShotSpotter was only installed in the 12 police districts with the largest Black and Latinx populations, putting 80% of the city's Black residents and 65% of the city's Latinx residents at regular risk for police violence.²

2. ShotSpotter alerts create dangerous situations by sending police to chase down dead-end reports of supposed gunfire that turn up nothing.³

ShotSpotter markets its audio surveillance tech as primarily for gunshot detection — but one study found that over 90% of ShotSpotter-activated police dispatches led to no evidence of gunfire or gun crime.⁴

There's never been any published testing of ShotSpotter's ability to tell the difference between gunshots and other loud noises like firecrackers and cars backfiring.⁵

In court, judges have repeatedly questioned whether ShotSpotter's methods are reliable enough for its reports to be used in trials.⁶

Sign our joint letter to the ShotSpotter CEO: Stop audio surveilling our communities.

3. Multiple people have been shot, incarcerated, and killed by police in the aftermath of a ShotSpotter alert. 

Michael Williams spent nearly a year in jail after being falsely accused of murder on the basis of ShotSpotter reports. He was finally released after prosecutors abandoned the ShotSpotter evidence and dropped all charges.

Police chased and shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo after a ShotSpotter alert in Chicago.⁷

Adam Toledo should be alive today. Michael Williams should not have spent a crushing year behind bars due to racist policing aided by the ShotSpotter algorithm.

Muslim communities know first-hand about the harm and fear that comes from state surveillance. We've spent years opposing efforts like the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs that target Muslim communities.

That's why MPower is working with a coalition of anti-surveillance, racial justice organizations to stop ShotSpotter and all surveillance tech in our communities.

We need real solutions to gun violence, not police tech tools that bring more harm to Black and brown people — or make racist police departments even more dangerous.

Join us. Sign the petition to say no to ShotSpotter in our communities.

Thanks for all you do.

In solidarity,

Ishraq, Granate, Lau, and the team at MPower Change

Sources:

1."Officers Who Shot Anthony Alvarez, Adam Toledo Remain on Leave: Police Officials | Chicago News," WWTW, May 6, 2021.

2. "ShotSpotter is deployed overwhelmingly in Black and Latinx neighborhoods in Chicago," MacArthur Justice Center.

3. "ShotSpotter Generated Over 40,000 Dead-End Police Deployments in Chicago in 21 Months, According to New Study," MacArthur Justice Center, May 3, 2021.

4. "OIG Finds That ShotSpotter Alerts Rarely Lead to Evidence of a Gun-Related Crime and That Presence of the Technology Changes Police Behavior," Officer Of Inspector General, City of Chicago, August 24, 2021. 

5. "City Of Chicago, Chicago PD Officers Sued Over Their Use Of Questionable ShotSpotter Technology," TechDirt, July 28, 2022. 

6. "How AI-powered tech landed man in jail with scant evidence," AP News, August 19, 2021.

7. "Family of Adam Toledo files wrongful death lawsuit as top prosecutor decides no charges will be filed against cop who shot 13-year-old," Chicago Sun-Times, March 16, 2022.

MPower Change is a grassroots movement of diverse Muslim communities working together to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people. Support our work.

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