Police are apparently trawling gunshot-detecting artificial intelligence to support their narratives

Police departments may frequently be requesting alterations to alerts generated by a gunshot-detecting artificial intelligence surveillance system called ShotSpotter, Vice News reports, citing court documents. The investigation raises questions of whether in some cases, law enforcement is using ShotSpotter to trawl for evidence to support their narratives.

While Vice looked at multiple incidents, the report went into detail about a shooting in Chicago that took place during May 2020. The victim was fatally shot in the head by a man who was subsequently charged with his murder. The suspect maintained that the victim was shot in a drive-by, but the prosecution relied on a key piece of evidence that placed the suspect at a location and time that matched gunfire picked up by ShotSpotter microphones.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.