ICC WORLD CUP: detroit

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Monday, October 5, 2015

Plan for "Operation ShotSpotter" Unveiled in Detroit

After rolling out the use of ShotSpotter in Detroit last year, some communities in Detroit are beginning to use data collected from the system to create targeted community outreach initiatives. The new initiative is lead by Scott Benson, a Detroit City Council Member representing District 3. Benson unveiled his plan on Wednesday and is calling it �Operation ShotSpotter.�

ShotSpotter itself is a technology that uses acoustic sensors around the city, a base station in a police dispatch center, and software that monitors the audio feed for sounds characteristic of gunshots and triangulates their location based on time delays. In an evaluation conducted in 1999 by the University of Cincinnati, �findings from the Shotspotter Field Evaluation indicated that overall, the gunshot location technology was able to annunciate (detect) nearly 80 percent of the test shots. Specifically, the technology annunciated shotgun rounds at the highest rate (90 percent) followed by pistol rounds (77 percent) and then assault rifle rounds (63 percent).�

Screenshot of the ShotSpotter software from shotpotter.com

Last year, the Urban Institute published an interface based on data collected by the ShotSpotter system installed in Washington, DC. The article attached also highlighted the number of shots recorded by the system that occur near schools.

Reports of the efficacy of the ShotSpotter system from Shotspotter.com

Opponents to the ShotSpotter system cite cost as the technology is proprietary to one company. However, �Operation ShotSpotter� is a completely volunteer-run program that will partner with the police and other existing community groups to provide humanitarian outreach to neighborhoods affected by gun violence.

After the program was launched in 2014, the Detroit police chief said, "in all the incidents we [thought] were shootings, not one citizen called the police. That tells me people are so used to hearing gunshots in their neighborhoods, they don't consider it anything out of the ordinary. And that's sad."

Friday, October 2, 2015

Detroit�s Population Shift: First Increase in White Population Since 1950

Detroit is often recognized by its noticeable population loss over the past few decades (a 97% decrease in residents from 1950-2010), which arguably drove the city into a downward economic spiral. This was first spurred by an unprecedented amount of �White Flight� in the 1950�s and followed by what many have termed �Black Flight� in the decades following.

However, Census data released last Wednesday (9/23/15) shows Detroit�s White population has increased by 8,000 in the past year. This is the first growth in the white population since the 1950�s (when Detroit�s white population sat at 1.5 million) and helps quantify what many believe to be the �revitalization� of the city.

Although noteworthy, the situation is still bleak. According to the Detroit News, the population in 2014 was 680,281, a decline of 8,459 residents from the year before. Between 2012 and 2013, there was a loss of 12,784 residents. This decline is mostly seen among Hispanic and African American residents who are still moving to the suburbs in great numbers. Nonetheless, demographer William Frey points out this may be a trend in most major U.S. cities, not just Detroit.