Murfreesboro Police installing gunshot sensors around the city
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Gunshot detectors are popping up around Murfreesboro. Police are installing these unique sensors so that they receive an alert whenever there’s possible gunfire.
The Murfreesboro Police Department (MPD) already installed roughly 85 sensors in areas that could be beneficial, according to crime data.
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The technology is quite simple: gunshots, or something that sounds similar, would be picked up by these devices. The devices would then immediately notify police. The notification would show a timestamp, the approximate area where the sound came from (within an approximate 100 foot radius), an audio clip of the sound for officers to analyze, and other bits of information.
The ultimate goal is a quicker response to possible gun violence.
“It will actually give us an opportunity to respond to that scene faster, ahead of potentially first callers as well,” explained Ryan Lawrence, Crime Analysis Unit Supervisor for MPD. “And that gives us the opportunity to find injured persons, potentially save lives, identify property damage, preserve evidence, and of course, hopefully, catch the perpetrators.”
Eventually, over 200 gunshot sensors will be scattered around Murfreesboro. The technology is the latest to be used by MPD’s real time crime center, which already deploys license plate readers and public safety cameras.
As with those tools, these sensors are being implemented to increase public safety.
“All the technology that we utilize here will allow us to increase public safety, help maintain officer safety, and those are of course the biggest concerns that we have,” Lawrence said. “The system itself boasts about a 90 percent accuracy rating. It’s capable of differentiating between fireworks, a single gunshot, and multi-gunshots.”
Lawrence told News 2 that alert data from the sensors would remain in their database for six days and could only be accessed by specific police personnel. Lawrence added that any sensors on private property were placed with the owner’s permission.
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The installation and testing process is still ongoing. MPD could not say when this new system would officially be up and running.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the difference we can make as we go along with this process here at the RTC,” Lawrence said.
To learn more about these gunshot sensors and other new technology being deployed by MPD, you can visit the department’s website.
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