A Chicago city aldermen ripped criticized Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson for letting gunshot-detecting technology ShotSpotter’s contract expire after it was revealed a shooting took nearly nine hours to net a police response, according to NBC 5 Chicago on Monday.
Alderman David Moore of the 17th ward railed against Johnson’s decision on Monday, saying that the ShotSpotter would’ve enhanced the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) response time to a murder of Sierra Evans, who was likely killed between 11:45 p.m. CDT and 12:15 a.m. CDT on Saturday night or Sunday morning, but the body wasn’t discovered until 9:30 a.m. CDT on Sunday, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Johnson let the ShotSpotter contract expire on Sept. 23, saying he would look for alternatives to the system, according to ABC 7.
“Instead of a resident finding her body hours later, the sound of gunfire would have alerted CPD to multiple shots at 12:06 a.m. and it would have done so in less than 30 seconds from the shots being detected,” Moore told NBC 5 Chicago. “While the politics of this city is trying to minimize this tragedy, I’m not going to remain silent. This is about saving lives. For a woman to be found 9 ½ hours after a ShotSpotter alert could have been sent is heartbreaking.”
Moore said Alderman Peter Chico contacted ShotSpotter and confirmed that the company received a report of the shooting, according to NBC 5 Chicago. However, the CPD cannot use the devices any longer due to the contract expiring, and removal of the devices are currently underway, according to ABC 7.
Mark Abrams, Evan’s uncle, said if ShotSpotter were still used by the CPD that Evan’s life might have been saved, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Evan’s friends held a vigil Monday night in her memory.
“The detectives don’t know if she was murdered there or somewhere else, but they said she was killed between 11:45 and 12:15 in the morning and nine hours later a neighbor came out to feed his cats and he noticed a body there and called police,” Abrams told NBC 5 Chicago. “…Because somebody in the neighborhood or police would’ve been in the area in seconds. I feel like the mayor needs to step up and put the ShotSpotters back. Not only in the east area but throughout the city. It’s time for the mayor to do something about it.”
A vast majority of city aldermen wanted ShotSpotter to continue being used in Chicago, but Johnson vetoed the bill, according to ABC 7. The decommissioning will occur within 60 days of Sept. 23, with no replacement technology currently being proposed.
Johnson said that they needed “more effective strategies” than ShotSpotter, and that he would consider other options to “save more lives,” according to ABC 7. He also championed a “downward trend in crime” in the city.
Chicago led the nation in homicides for the 12th year in a row, clocking 617 homicides in 2023, with the next highest being Philadelphia at 408 homicides, according to Wirepoints. Crime overall is up 15% from 2022 to 2024, and 57% from 2021, according to city data.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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