Overview
- The council passed the policy order in a 5-2-2 vote on Monday directing City Manager Yi‑An Huang to disable and physically remove ShotSpotter devices across Cambridge within 90 days.
- Supporters of the removal cited privacy risks, a roughly 65 percent rate of false or unconfirmed alerts over the past decade, and fears that data held by SoundThinking could be shared with federal agencies.
- City officials and police urged retention, saying ShotSpotter produced at least 11 detections in Cambridge when no 911 calls were made and that the system can speed response and help collect evidence.
- The network failed to detect a recent Memorial Drive shooting because the attack happened outside the sensors’ coverage, and the system in Cambridge has been funded in part by about $50,000 in DHS UASI grants.
- SoundThinking defended the technology and said it was reviewing the council vote while the decision adds to a national reassessment of gunshot‑detection tools and could spur calls for independent audits, clearer contracts, and stricter local oversight.