The much anticipated Shot Spotter Technology has been through testing and is ready to go live.

This comes  after the government signed a contract with Shot  Spotter for gunshot detection in January  this year.

Chief Superintendent Zhivago Dames gave a breakdown of how the system works.

He said,“once a signal is received by the gunshot detection technology, officers in the mobile patrol cars will have a device and will also be able to receive that signal from Shot Spotter.”

“Also, the police dispatch center or police control room, once they receive the signal on their screens in their control room, they will be able to dispatch those units to the particular area where the shots are heard,” he said.

According to Director of Customer Success Alfred Lewers  the software has the capability to detect  multiple gunshot firings in different locations at the same time once the areas are covered by Shot  Spotter.

He noted that on average Shot Spotter customers notice a 37 per cent reduction in gun fire activities.

“It varies based upon the strategies, the best practices and the holistic approach that the agency is implying to reduce gun violence.

“We’ve had some cities that have had reductions as great as 60 plus per cent over a specified timeframe,” he said.

As it relates to concerns of citizen privacy,  Mr. Lewers said that won’t be an issue.

“We’re a gunshot detection company and we install the array outside, in open areas above road ways, above ambient noise.

“So we’re not looking to capture audio other than for gun fires. So when that dynamic event occurs, that bang, that boom or that pops it sends the information to our location servers.

“We’re listening to gun fire, we’ll give our customers information four seconds prior to the shooting event and two seconds after,” he said.

The software will be installed in New Providence, Grand Bahama, and Abaco.

As this is only the first phase, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said the second phase is expected to roll out in the next fiscal period.