Mayor Brandon Johnson is now being compelled to rethink his choice to close down the controversial ShotSpotter system — a transfer that set off a seek for police applied sciences that some enterprise leaders have slammed as slipshod and frantic.
SoundThinking, ShotSpotter’s dad or mum firm, is amongst eight companies that submitted proposals to offer citywide “gun violence detection know-how,” in response to information from the bidding course of, which ended Friday.
ShotSpotter depends on acoustic sensors designed to select up gunfire, but it surely was slammed by Johnson as “a walkie-talkie on a pole” and a waste of taxpayer {dollars}. SoundThinking CEO Ralph Clark wouldn’t remark.
A supply with information of the continuing procurement course of mentioned Johnson’s administration seemingly didn’t weigh the ramifications of nixing ShotSpotter in September, resulting in “a mad sprint” to open up bidding.
Attendees at a gathering of potential bidders in February criticized metropolis officers for offering restricted info. Some flew from out of state for what amounted to a terse, 15-minute studying of the doc soliciting proposals.
“This was positively out of the peculiar,” mentioned one attendee who requested to stay nameless.
Kathleen Griggs, founder and CEO of Databuoy, traveled from Vienna, Virginia. Her agency sells the Shotpoint system, touted as “the quickest, most exact totally automated gunshot detection and localization platform.”
Griggs mentioned metropolis officers “have been very curt,” solely relaying info that had already been reported and directing attendees to submit any questions on-line. She mentioned there didn’t appear to be any will to research the nuances and variations within the varied detection applied sciences in the marketplace.
Her agency in the end selected to not submit a bid. “We’re going to go and assist no matter cities truly need us there,” she mentioned.
A mayoral spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark.
A spread of choices
Fifteen firms had beforehand pitched a variety of applied sciences by means of a “request for info,” and representatives for twenty-four companies attended the temporary assembly at Public Security Headquarters.
However solely eight submitted bids, though some have partnered with different companies.
Candidates vying for the brand new contract provide some type of gunshot-detection know-how — and a few sought to set themselves aside from ShotSpotter.
Malcolm Weems, founding father of TeQuity Companions in Bronzeville, mentioned his proposal was formulated to deal with the administration’s points with ShotSpotter.
Weems’ firm is working to promote town Dragonfly, a system developed by Albuquerque-based EAGL that flags gunfire utilizing what he described as “power signatures,” as an alternative of sounds.
“What we’re hoping to do is ship one thing that’s much more correct than what we had with ShotSpotter,” he mentioned, and “cheaper.” He famous the know-how is already being utilized in Cicero.
Earlier than changing into a finance supervisor on the Chicago Park District and dealing underneath governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn, Weems misplaced his father to gun violence. “So it’s a private difficulty for me, too,” he mentioned.
Tim Kelly, president and co-founder of Tupelo, Mississippi-based Crime Gun Intelligence Applied sciences, submitted a proposal for its FireFLY LE know-how, a gunshot detection system initially designed for the navy.
Utilizing an array of microphones, Kelly mentioned it could possibly precisely pinpoint the placement of a taking pictures — even when a number of sounds are hitting the sensors.
“The very last thing you ever need to do, from a legislation enforcement perspective, is ship a patrol officer to the unsuitable location,” Kelly mentioned, including {that a} false alarm might result in an unconstitutional search or arrest.
Jelware, a startup primarily based in West Palm Seashore, Florida, has pitched applied sciences that use cell units to detect gun violence and alert residents and legislation enforcement to close by shootings.
Founder Jelani Jacobs insisted that “{hardware} merchandise have been failing communities,” an obvious knock on ShotSpotter and its rivals that depend on fastened sensors.
“Everybody has their digital units 24/7, and that’s what’s going to be their detector,” founder Jacobs mentioned. “This time we’re residing [in], all the things goes to be digital, contactless.”
One other applicant, Tampa-based Blue Hammer Know-how, has a synthetic intelligence platform that’s used to match forensic proof discovered at completely different crime scenes.
It permits police to take photos from 1000’s of cameras “and search for patterns to determine criminals or weapons,” Blue Hammer’s Mike Fekety beforehand informed the Solar-Occasions. However the AI mannequin may also probe text- or audio-based info to equally discover matches.
One other software developed by the corporate is used to find a particular cellphone by “sniffing the airwaves” for a novel quantity related to its SIM card, Fekety mentioned within the earlier interview.
“That’s why all of the terrorists use the flip telephones as a result of there’s no GPS, or they use the pagers,” Fekety added. He declined to remark this week.
Diego Lopez, senior options companion for the Norwegian gunshot detection agency Triangula, mentioned Blue Hammer is bidding collectively together with his firm, Microsoft, Samsung and others. Lopez attended the February assembly with metropolis officers, together with representatives from Microsoft.
Questions stay
Silver Star Safety Group, a Rolling Meadows safety agency that caters to hashish dispensaries and different companies, declined to remark. So did West Loop-based Motorola Options, which holds giant metropolis contracts for digital camera infrastructure and radio gear.
Austin-based Lyons View Producer and Provide didn’t reply to requests for remark
President Joshua Davis is the son of Stephen L. Davis, a former member of the board of administrators of the Illinois Tollway. Lyons View has executed contracting and subcontracting work for the tollway, together with when Stephen L. Davis was on the board.
Joshua Davis sits on the board of commissioners of the DuPage Airport Authority, a physique his father beforehand led. He additionally serves as president and CEO of The Will Group, an organization his father based.
The Will Group has been concerned in varied road gentle initiatives, the O’Hare Worldwide Airport enlargement and the development of New Kennedy-King School, in response to its web site.
It’s unclear what the three different bidders have proposed.
