WORCESTER – A report from Worcester Chief of Police Paul Saucier to the Worcester City Council provides recent statistical information on the usage of ShotSpotter in the city.
ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system that uses audio sensors to detect sounds that may be gunfire and uses triangulation to determine the origin of the sound. The system first deployed in Worcester in 2014 and currently covers over eight miles within the city. ShotSpotter can detect the original location of the sound within 25 meters, or 82 feet, according to Saucier’s report. Personnel at SoundThinking, Inc., the maker of ShotSpotter, reviews each audio detection for audio patterns consistent with gunfire and, if confirmed, notifies the police department within one minute.
In the report, Saucier cites a Brookings Institute study which found that over 80 percent of gunfire incidents go unreported to emergency response.
This Week in Worcester previously reported on ShotSpotter and its effectiveness in Worcester and what both supporters and detractors say about the system.
Over the last three years, the City of Worcester has spent an average of $573,563 for its contract with SoundThinking, Inc. The contract includes an average of $528,597 for ShotSpotter, and $44,966 for another of its products, Resource Router.
Resource Router uses five years of historical crime data in the municipalities which purchase the service to aid police departments in planning the deployment of patrol officers. Critics express concern that the product’s use of artificial intelligence and algorithmic predictions leverages data generated through historical bias in policing.
Saucier wrote in his report that within the areas that Resource Router determines patrol officers should visit, the officer visits that area three times per shift for 15 minutes. The product directs officers to a new location every eight hours. The department now requires patrol officers to conduct patrol on foot within the areas determined by Resource Router as part of its community engagement efforts.
Shootings Statistics in Worcester
Saucier cites the following statistics in his report.
Within the ShotSpotter coverage area, over eight square miles, in Worcester, Saucier says police in Worcester recovered 773 shell casings in 2024.
Between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, 24 shooting homicides took place in Worcester. 14 of those took place within the ShotSpotter coverage area. During the same period, 74 non-fatal shootings involving 93 victims took place in the city. Of those 74 non-fatal shootings, 66 took place within the coverage area.
