Chicago police Superintendent David Brown defended his department’s controversial ShotSpotter contract Monday, telling aldermen it’s an important “tool in our toolbox” despite studies that questioned the gunshot-detection system’s usefulness.

       Appearing for his annual City Council budget hearing, Brown pushed back against aldermen who said the city should consider ending the deal after the MacArthur Justice Center and the city’s Office of the Inspector General reported that ShotSpotter rarely led to gun arrests and that police used the technology to justify stopping and frisking people.

       Police monitor ShotSpotter and other crime detection programs at the Chicago Police Department 7th District's Strategic Decision Support Center in 2017. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

       “Gunshot detection technology has saved lives in the city of Chicago,” Brown said. “Officers have responded and found wounded persons, applied tourniquets. Officers have responded and confronted violent offenders.”

       ShotSpotter later released a statement through a spokesperson: “The Chicago Police Department continually describes ShotSpotter as an important part of their operations. The OIG report did not specifically suggest that ShotSpotter alerts are not indicative of actual gunfire whether or not a police report is filed or physical evidence is recovered. It is important to note that traditional 911 calls for service from community members during this same time period resulted in a police report or evidence found in only 16 percent of incidents, no better than ShotSpotter alerts at 17 percent, and there is universal agreement about the value of the 911 system. ShotSpotter’s accuracy has been independently audited at 97 percent based on feedback from more than 120 customers.”

       Despite criticism of ShotSpotter, the city extended its contract with the company this year until 2023, at a cost of about $7.7 million per year.

       Southwest Side Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, pointed out the MacArthur report showed about 90% of ShotSpotter police deployments turned up no gun-related crime, and more than 80% resulted in no crime of any kind reported.

       Regarding the MacArthur report, the ShotSpotter spokesperson said it “draws erroneous conclusions from researchers’ interpretation of police report categorizations, falsely equating them with no shots fired,” and that a separate review found the report relied on “deeply flawed analyses of incomplete data that the Center clearly did not understand or ignored.”

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       The ShotSpotter contract was extended based on the amount of time the system is operational in several South and West Side police districts, how accurate the system is in locating the source of gunshots and how quickly an alert gets sent out about a possible gunshot.

       ShotSpotter equipment overlooks the intersection of South Stony Island Avenue and East 63rd Street in Chicago in August. (Charles Rex Arbogast / AP)

       But Rodriguez contended “none of these measures” is accurate, as it’s often unclear “whether an actual gunshot caused that alert versus something other than a gunshot.”

       Brown also faced heat from aldermen over the overall rate of violent crime citywide.

       “I feel like not enough people are engaged in this,” said Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th. “This should be the No. 1 priority in the city right now for every single elected official. ... I’m just frustrated that I’ve heard so much fluff here today.”

       The Police Department’s proposed budget is $1.9 billion for 2022, up from $1.7 billion this year.

       jebyrne@chicagotribune.com

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