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St. Louis ShotSpotter Locations Revealed in Wired | St. Louis

Published

12 months ago

February 24, 2024

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click to enlarge Wired’s map of ShotSpotter locations across the U.S. included this look at the ones throughout the St. Louis region.

Yesterday, Wired published a story based on leaked data from the company behind the ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology, revealing all the locations in the country where ShotSpotters are deployed.

That includes St. Louis.

An interactive map produced by Wired based on the leaked information shows that ShotSpotters in St. Louis are primarily placed in north city and north county, with their presence in south city limited to a patch that roughly includes Tower Grove East, Gravois Park and Dutchtown.

According to the Wired article, the company behind ShotSpotter – Fremont, California-based SoundThinking – doesn’t always inform the police departments they work with about where they are placing the microphones. A county police spokesperson tells the RFT they do know where their ShotSpotters are.

“You, as well as I, can overlay the maps of ShotSpotter with the maps of racial diversity in the city,” says defense attorney David Mueller, who until recently was running as a candidate for Circuit Attorney. “It’s one-to-one in terms of over-policing our Black and Latino communities.”

Mueller and many others have raised concerns about the veracity of the science behind ShotSpotter. The technology essentially involves having a “microphone sensor” in place that alerts authorities anytime it detects what it thinks is a gunshot.

However, a study conducted by the MacArthur Justice Center found that when the technology was deployed in Chicago, it generated roughly 60 false positives every day. The study questioned ShotSpotter’s ability to distinguish between gunfire and “firecrackers, backfiring cars, construction noises, helicopters, and other loud, impulsive sounds.” Chicago announced earlier this month it would not be renewing its contract with the company.

“The science on ShotSpotter isn’t very good,” Mueller says.

Mueller also says it can wreak havoc in terms of data collection. Because there are so many sensitive microphones in some neighborhoods and none in others, it can make it appear as if one area has way more instances of “shots fired” than another, if many of those calls are generated by a loud noise that isn’t gunfire.

“I remember stories that came out about the number of shootings increasing in 2021 and 2022,” Mueller says. “I think we really have to call all those questions at this point because it’s like, were you responding to actual shots fired or were you responding to ShotSpotter telling you that that’s what happened?”

It is unclear how much the city or county government pays to use the technology. A KSDK article from last year puts the price between $65,000 to 90,000 per square mile per year.

A 2020 report compiled by the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board says that gunshot detection systems like ShotSpotter “are an effective tool to investigate previously undetected firearms related criminal activity.” St. Louis City Police Chief Robert Tracy, then the chief of Wilmington, Delaware, wrote an opening letter to the report.

One invoice posted to the city’s public records portal shows a $208,000 payment to the company for a “ShotSpotter Flex subscription” running from November 2020 to October 2021. Another invoice for the subscription for $54,799 covers December 2021 to October 2022. There is another invoice from the company indicating the city paid them $36,000 in January 2021.

“I think our government has to look at this map with clear eyes and a little self-reflection in terms of how we’re allocating our resources,” Mueller says.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

9 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

9 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

9 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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