Some communities in Fort Worth will see automatic gunshot audio detectors installed.
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Across five square miles, Fort Worth is adding automated gunshot detectors to its network of Flock Safety camera systems.
The city, which has been deploying Flock cameras since 2020, presently has more than 150 Flock cameras in its network that scan license plates automatically to assist law enforcement in locating vehicles linked to crimes.
The current contract the city has for those cameras and Flock network support costs $531,000 a year.
A new phase of the technology, called Raven, was approved by the Fort Worth City Council on November 28. Raven is a five square mile system of automatic gunshot detectors.
Due to applicable credit, the system will cost the city $70,000 yearly for the first two years, then $175,000 annually after that.
According to Fort Worth Police Sgt. Jason Spencer, “it has multiple microphones that can hear the sound of a gunshot.”
According to the Fort Worth Police Department, the technology can determine the precise location of a gunshot, alerting surrounding police and pointing any cameras in that direction. This was shared with NBC 5.
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“And maybe even catch the offense in progress, or be able to have a camera operator see a suspect fleeing the area,” Spencer stated.
According to Fort Worth Police, Raven will assist close any coverage gaps and increase the number of arrests.
A few community members are worried.
Veteran civil rights lawyer Jackee Cox stated, “Surveillance is not something to be greatly desired.” “Do we even have any privacy?”
Cox is a Fort Worth community advocate for marginalized areas. She expressed disapproval of the notion that law enforcement may monitor communities through listening in.
“I believe that it would appear more invasive in a residential neighborhood than it would in a business establishment,” Cox stated.
The Fort Worth Police were notified of such worries by NBC 5. The department responded by saying that the Raven system won’t be utilized for eavesdropping because it is set to the precise frequency of gunshots.
Spencer predicted that when they hear a gunshot, they will be able to identify it from other noises, such as a car backfiring. Therefore, it’s not listening in on someone else’s discussion or watching a live broadcast of people waiting for a bus on a corner.
Equity is another issue, according to Cox. She was concerned that the gunshot detectors might overstate the number of shots fired calls associated with majority-minority communities if they were installed largely in such areas.
Cox stated, “Systematic enforcement of laws against certain populations, that are not enforced against other populations, is what one likes least.”
The Fort Worth Police Department addressed those worries by stating that data indicating the locations of the most gun-related crimes will be used to plan out the system. According to the agency, Raven would initially be installed in communities such as the Las Vegas Trail, Stop Six, Historic Northside, Rosemont, and the Riverside region close to Cobb Park.
“There have already been gunshots, which you are aware of, and we have received calls regarding them,” Spencer stated. “The question is, will this be something you just have to put up with in your neighborhood, or will we be able to use this technology to maybe address it?”
Leaders in the city claimed to be considering equity as well. After six months, District 8 City Councilman Chris Nettles told NBC 5 he intended to request a report on the results of the gunshot detectors, including information on where they had been installed and the kind of arrests they had assisted with.
“It will be my responsibility to ensure that these are deployed throughout the entire city of Fort Worth,” Nettles stated. “And it’s not limited to communities of color.”
