Nassau police get ShotSpotter updates in their squad cars
Patrol officers cruising some of Nassau County's most dangerous streets will now be automatically alerted to gunfire moments after the shots are fired, the Nassau police commissioner said Friday.
Speaking with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said the ShotSpotter alerts - which 911 operators now receive - are also to be relayed to computer screens mounted in First Precinct sector cars.
There are two dozen or so of them, said Insp. Mike Studdert, the precinct's commanding officer.
The ShotSpotter system, in place since last summer in Uniondale and Roosevelt, is able to pinpoint the sound of gunfire and relay the information.
The system cost about $1 million, which the county paid for with asset-forfeiture money, Mulvey and Mangano said.
The ShotSpotter system uses sonic sensors mounted discreetly throughout the neighborhood.
Under the terms of the county's contract with the Mountain View, Calif.-based company that makes the system, the price tag includes five years of service and updates, said Nassau police Deputy Chief Thomas C. Krumpter.
William Flanagan, the police department's second deputy commissioner, said the combination of the system, deployed officers responding to the alerts and the department's gun buyback program, has dramatically reduced gun violence.
Referring to ShotSpotter, he said, "It's not the be-all and end-all. It's a tool in the toolbox.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
