Cops: Fewer gunshots with ShotSpotter

Gunshots fired in the Roosevelt-Uniondale area have dropped significantly, in large part due to the placement of ShotSpotter devices, which can tell police within six seconds where the shooting area is, Nassau officials said yesterday.

Acting Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said shots fired in the two communities have been reduced 94 percent for the first two months of 2011 compared with the same time in 2010. From Jan. 1 to March 12, 2010, there were 117 confirmed gunshots in the Roosevelt-Uniondale area and 17 nearby. A year later with the ShotSpotters device still in place but with some changes, there was one confirmed gunshot in the area and seven outside.

Officials said the drop in confirmed shots can be partially credited to faster response times from police officers who now have links to the ShotSpotters in their cars. In 2010, the ShotSpotter was linked to 911 operators who then called police. Faster response times act as a deterrent for people to open fire, Krumpter said.

"Everyone knows that the moment a gun is fired in the ShotSpotter zone, our officers are on their way," Krumpter said.

The ShotSpotter program "is an excellent tool," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said Thursday at a news conference at Nassau County Police headquarters in Mineola. "This system and our officers have helped improve the quality of life enjoyed by our Roosevelt and Uniondale residents."

Two area residents had slightly different views of the ShotSpotter program.

"I think it has helped to reduce quite a bit of crime in the area, as the numbers show. The residents of the community are actually in favor of this. It is a good technological initiative," said Pearl Jacobs, first vice president of the Nostrand Gardens Civic Association.

But in Roosevelt, Christopher Tolbert, who heads a youth program at the Roosevelt-Freeport Economic Opportunity Council, said: "I think this has made things a little better, but there are other possible reasons, including this year's weather, that could account for the reduction in shots fired. What could really make a difference is if they had police officers walking the beat in Roosevelt."

The ShotSpotter is a Nassau pilot program only in Uniondale and Roosevelt and has been active since July 23, 2009.The system's sensors are calibrated to listen for the unique acoustic fingerprint of gunfire and to triangulate and locate the point of origin to within 82 feet.