ShotSpotter headed to Huntington Station

A two-square-mile area of Huntington Station considered a hot spot for gang activity is getting a technological boost - a ShotSpotter gunfire detection system - that should help Suffolk County police reduce gun violence, County Executive Steve Levy's office said Friday.

The County Legislature approved a resolution Tuesday, 15-3, to fund a $450,000 pilot initiative, which will be installed during the first three months of the upcoming year, Levy's office said in a news release.

ShotSpotter, an acoustic surveillance system, uses microphones that pick up the sounds of gunfire. Patrol cars with laptop computers can then detect the origin of the shots within 10 feet. Proponents of the system say it also saves lives, because it decreases police response times to shooting locations.

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Levy, Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone and several other officials will formally announce the ShotSpotter program in a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday at Community Outreach Center, 5 Lowndes Ave., Huntington Station.

Levy said a preliminary study by police identified Huntington Station "as a suitable area for a pilot program to further study this type of technology," the release said.

"We are hopeful this pilot program will show how effective this technology is in securing arrests and fighting crime," he said in a statement.

The push for the ShotSpotter program was sponsored by Majority Leader Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) in August, with support from legislators Louis D'Amaro (D-North Babylon) and Steven H. Stern (D-Dix Hills). Levy said $450,000 in the county's capital program will be set aside for funding.

Cooper's plan came on the heels of three summer shootings in the area and the July closing of the local Jack Abrams Intermediate School.

Cooper said in the release he anticipates the Shot Spotter "will not only reduce gun violence but will also increase arrests by providing police with quicker response times and give them critical information before they arrive on the scene of a shooting." D'Amaro said the technology "places another barrier against violent crime in Huntington Station." Stern called ShotSpotter "another important element in our comprehensive efforts to combat crime."

In addition to ShotSpotter, the release said police have combated crime in the area by using surveillance cameras in coordination with the Huntington Station Business Improvement District; expanding patrols on weekends and late-evening hours; implementing a "park-and-walk" program at strip shopping centers; and coordinating efforts with federal and state law-enforcement agencies.

Nassau County police have been using the same technology for more than a year now, primarily in Roosevelt and Uniondale.