KUOW, January 2025
Tacoma plans to install acoustic gunshot detection technology this spring in an area that has been the site of several homicides in recent years. But not everyone is convinced the ShotSpotter system will lead to a reduction in gun-related crimes. The Tacoma Police Department will pilot ShotSpotter in a two-mile area in South Tacoma around Hosmer Street, which has been called Tacoma’s “deadliest” street. The city has identified the area as an outlier, as violent crime has trended downward in Tacoma since a peak in 2022. By reducing response times and alerting officers to gunfire incidents that might otherwise go unreported, ShotSpotter has the potential to save lives while minimizing over-policing,” a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement.
ShotSpotter is one of three technologies funded by an $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance that Tacoma is adopting to improve its ability to investigate gun crimes. “Could we reduce crime in Tacoma, without causing harm? That’s the principle,” Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore said during a presentation on the department’s violent crime reduction plan at a City Council meeting in October. “You can take that principle and you can apply it to any strategy we have when it comes to reducing crime.”
