City of Beloit Combats Illegal Gun Crime With ShotSpotter

ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System(R) to Enhance City's Crime Prevention Strategies

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ShotSpotter, Inc., the leading developer of mission-essential acoustic surveillance systems for law enforcement, homeland security, and the military announced today that the Beloit Police Department and the City of Beloit will deploy the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System^(R) (GLS) across a one mile coverage area within the city. The ShotSpotter GLS is an acoustic surveillance system that specifically detects, locates, and tracks weapons fire. It will be used as a tool in the department's proactive approach to combating gun violence.

A press conference will be held by the Beloit Police Department and the City of Beloit in the police department's briefing room today, January 21, at 10 a.m. CST, to discuss deployment of the ShotSpotter GLS in Beloit.

"This technology is an asset to our community," said Police Chief Sam Lathrop. "The ShotSpotter GLS will not only alert us to weapons fire; it will also give us more comprehensive data and intelligence on gun violence that we can use to better protect our officers and reduce response times. System data will be used to complement already existing anti-crime strategies and operations and will help our officers, investigators and crime analysts in their efforts to further crack down on gun crime in Beloit."

Currently used in 35 cities across the U.S., the ShotSpotter GLS detects and pinpoints the location of gunshot and explosive events in near real-time. Event data is stored in a historical database for strategic and predicative crime analysis that reveals crime trends and hot spot areas. Data provided by the ShotSpotter GLS has been used successfully to build proactive anti-crime strategies and operations. In court cases, system data has established a timeline of events, successfully refuted and corroborated eye witness testimony, and revealed the number of shooters at a crime scene. Customers using the ShotSpotter GLS report a reduction in violent crime rates by at least 30 percent and gunfire rate reductions by as much as 60 to 80 percent.

"The City of Beloit is harnessing the power of technology in its crime-fighting strategy by implementing the ShotSpotter GLS," said City Manager Larry N. Arft. "Our police officers now have an additional tool they can use in their daily fight against gun violence."

"The ShotSpotter GLS has been adopted by police departments across the U.S. as the industry standard for wide-area acoustic surveillance," said Gregg Rowland, senior vice president of ShotSpotter, Inc. "By using the ShotSpotter GLS, the officers of the Beloit Police Department will be armed with valuable intelligence and will have access to more comprehensive data on gun crime occurring within their coverage area. This data will allow officers to better analyze and monitor gun-crime trends and will assist in the development of proactive anti-gun crime operations and strategies."

About City of Beloit

The beautiful and historic City of Beloit is located along Interstate 39/90, just north of the Wisconsin border. The City Center is located along the Rock River, while the new Gateway Business Park is easily accessible on the east side of the Interstate. The City of Beloit covers about 17 square miles. It is home to approximately 38,000 residents as well as more than 88 industrial firms, 850 retail establishments, several corporate headquarters, a minor league baseball team, several museums and an internationally acclaimed college that bears the community's name. Beloit, like many communities in our region, state, and nation is not without challenges. Small pockets in the overall community have seen issues relating to violence associated with drugs, guns, and a gang presence. While not unusual in today's society, the City of Beloit has taken a pro-active and problem solving approach to deal with these challenges.

About ShotSpotter, Inc.

ShotSpotter, Inc. is the leading developer of mission-essential acoustic surveillance systems. Its flagship product, the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System^(R) (GLS), has pioneered the use of wide-area acoustic surveillance coupled with audio analytics for public safety, homeland security, and military applications. For over a decade, our customers have relied on the ShotSpotter GLS to provide them with acoustic event awareness and accurate actionable intelligence to aid their development of proactive anti-crime strategies and operations. Currently the ShotSpotter GLS protects many cities and counties nationwide, consistently producing arrests and weapons confiscations. Information about ShotSpotter can be found at www.shotspotter.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://www.shotspotter.com/news/index.html.

(C)2009 ShotSpotter, Inc. All rights reserved. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,973,998; 6,847,587; 7,139,222; 7,266,045; 7,411,865; 7,420,878; 7,474,589 and other foreign and domestic patents pending. ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System^(R) is a registered trademark of, and the ShotSpotter logo is a trademark of ShotSpotter, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

    Source: ShotSpotter, Inc.

Released January 21, 2009