AB 1559, authored by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D, Coacella), would create a "Community Engagement and Gun Violence Prevention Grant Program" to provide grants [legislative counsel's digest text] "to municipal police departments to allow those departments to subscribe to gunshot detection technologies designed to aid law enforcement in responding to and preventing gun violence. The Office of Emergency Services would implement and maintain the grant program..."

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The bill, introduced on Feb. 17, hasn't yet been sent to Assembly Committees for required hearings. It doesn't specify a particular brand of gunshot detection technology, stating simply that:

In order to be eligible for a grant, a technology-based system shall do the following:

(1)Provide immediate awareness of gunfire activity to law enforcement for its response and service to affected communities, including active shooter incidents inside coverage areas.
(2) Improve management of law enforcement resources by enabling focused and defined responses to gunfire incidents.
(3) Provide an increased opportunity to build trust between law enforcement and residents.
(4) Target enforcement to areas most affected by gun violence.
(5) Provide scientific and forensically sound evidence, admissible in court, to strengthen prosecutions of the worst offenders of gun violence.
(6) Have the ability to measure and report outcomes and results.
(7) Support patrol responses, investigations, analyses, and prosecutions.

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In October 2011 the Long Beach City Council voted to allocate $350,000 from oil revenue for a ShotSpotter system...but never put the system into use. LBPD management said it searched for a system that would be "compatible with the City's sprawling urban environment" and concluded that "at this time a gunfire detection technology that meets these preliminary objectives does not exist," adding that the City would "continue to actively monitor this emerging technology for future use in the City."

That allowed city management and the Council to reverse themselves and spend the money allocated for the high tech system in FY12 for low-tech LBPD overtime in FY13. LBREPORT.com [which editorially supported implementing a gunfire location system] closely followed and reported the developments:

• September 2011: City Manager Pat West included SpotSpotter among a list of items recommended for funding using uplands oil revenue, estimating ShotSpotter's cost at time as $350,000.

• Oct. 4, 2011: Then-Councilman Robert Garcia, joined by then-Councilmembers O'Donnell, DeLong and Andrews, proposed to allocate uplands oil revenue consistent with what city management approved, prominently including [agendizing memo text] "ShotSpotter System: $350,000. The ShotSpotter gunshot detection system would be a valuable tool to assist the Police Department in responding to gun incidents and other types of crime." Substitute and substitute-substitute motions flew over other proposed items until a second substitute motion passed 6-3 that allocated funding for ShotSpotter. (Yes: Garcia, Lowenthal, DeLong, O'Donnell, Andrews and Johnson; No: Schipske, Gabelich, Neal.) (The dissents came a month after Mayor Foster opposed, and a Council majority declined to approve, a Schipske-Gabelich-Neal alternative FY12 budget that sought to use surplus oil revenue to avert some public safety related cuts.) A few weeks later during the Oct. 4, 2011 Council session, Schipske questioned whether the $350,000 allocated for ShotSpotter would be sufficient, extracted an admission from management that no funds had been included to fund the system's continuing use after the first year and Chief McDonnell acknowledged it might end up being a one year pilot project.

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• Early 2012: LBREPORT.com learned of a contentious encounter between LBPD management and a ShotSpotter rep, which ultimately led to a high level meeting between LBPD command staff and other ShotSpotter reps in early 2012.

  April 24, 2012: LBREPORT.com asked LBPD's then-Administration Bureau Chief Braden Phillips where things stood. Chief Phillips indicated that LBPD management was exploring a number of options to see what type of gunfire location system would provide LBPD with the best deal for the dollars available.

• June 12, 2012: At a meeting of the Council's Public Safety Committee (chaired by then-Councilman Garcia), then-Committee member Schipske asked then-Administration Bureau Chief Phillips about the status of the gunfire location system. Chief Phillips replied that LBPD planned a demonstration/validation project of a gunfire-location technology that isn't the "ShotSpotter" system but a similar, cost effective technology that was deployed in Iraq and stated: "The ShotSpotter technology, the gunfire detection system, is as we said at the time, a very expensive technology for a fairly limited area. We are actively working with a group that has a similar technology that was deployed in Iraq and we're going to be doing a demonstration and validation project with them here shortly that we hope will provide a much more cost effective and even mobile solution that is superior to what we have been looking at in the past. One of the challenges we have in terms of using that technology is for one year it costs us essentially the equivalent of a couple of police officers, and frankly, I think given the size of the area we would be looking at with ShotSpotter, it's probably going to be more effective for us to get a couple of cops."

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• Oct. 26, 2012: LBREPORT.com reported that senior LBPD management had concluded that gunfire detection technology that meets LBPD's preliminary objectives doesn't currently exist. Then-Administration Bureau Chief Phillips emailed an October 25, 2012 statement as follows: "The City of Long Beach remains interested in acquiring a gunfire detection technology. City Management and the Police Department have engaged in exploratory discussions with various vendors who provide the technology to discuss goals and constraints that may factor into the City's decision to invest in a product. These meetings have been invaluable in the search for a system that will be compatible with the City’s sprawling urban environment. At this time, a gunfire detection technology that meets these preliminary objectives does not exist. Long Beach will continue to actively monitor this emerging technology for future use in the City."

• November 13, 2012: Councilman O'Donnell and Vice Mayor Garcia agendized an item to de-fund ShotSpotter and use its previously budgeted $350,000 for police overtime, writing as follows:

  [Nov. 13, 2012 O'Donnell-Garcia agendizing memo] On October 4,2011, the Council approved the appropriation of one-time Upland Oil funds to the Long Beach Police Department for the potential deployment of gunfire detection technology. The vendor referred to in these discussions was ShotSpotter. ShotSpotter, and other similar vendors, assist public safety agencies in gathering specific data about gunfire, using microphones and computer technology to determine location, number of shots fired and timing. After analysis by City Management and the LBPD, it has been determined that ShotSpotter's technology does not currently meet the public safety needs of the City. Further, it has been concluded that a gunfire detection technology that is compatible with the City's landscape does not currently exist with any vendor. At this time, the existing funds will not be used to purchase or subscribe to this type of program.

  It is appropriate that the funds be utilized to further one-time public safety needs, as was the Council's intention. A positive one-time use for these funds would be Police Department overtime costs for Fiscal Year 13. This would allow the Department, at its discretion, to have additional officers in the field where they are greatly needed. The LBPD and City Management will continue to discuss and analyze gunfire location services as they are developed.

  The Council vote to de-fund the budgeted/unspent FY12 $350,000 ShotSpotter sum for FY13 overtime was 7-2 (Yes: Garcia, Lowenthal, O'Donnell, Schipske, Johnson, Austin and Neal; Absent: DeLong and Andrews.)

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ShotSpotter's website states in pertinent part:

[ShotSpotter website text]

Is reducing gun violence a priority in your city?

The communities most affected by gunfire are least likely to call it in. With fewer than 1 in 5 shooting incidents reported to 9-1-1, gun crime is vastly underreported. When 9-1-1 calls are made, unfortunately the information provided is typically inaccurate. Without knowing exactly where to respond, police waste valuable time and resources driving block by block looking for evidence as criminals escape the scene. Dispatching officers to an active shooting without all available intelligence is a threat to officer safety and needlessly places the public at risk.

Intelligence-Led Policing

ShotSpotter gunfire data enables intelligent analysis. With that, law enforcement can move from the reactive to the proactive. ShotSpotter has been called -- a force multiplier -- because it provides critical information for better, more timely resource allocation -- especially important as agencies are being asked to do more with less.

ShotSpotter Flex instantly notifies officers of gunshot crimes in progress with real-time data delivered to dispatch centers, patrol cars and even smart phones. This affordable, subscription-based service enhances officer safety and effectiveness through:

• Real-time access to maps of shooting locations and gunshot audio,
• Actionable intelligence detailing the number of shooters and the number of shots fired,
• Pinpointing precise locations for first responders aiding victims, searching for evidence and interviewing witnesses...

The firm's website also includes the following videos:

After a previous City Council budgeted funds for ShotSpotter, then spent the money elsewhere, the current LB City Council hasn't revisited the issue. Mayor Garcia (who in 2011 called ShotSpotter as an example of the type of high tech that he supports) has recommended three budgets that haven't funded ShotSpotter.

It is a matter of record that LBPD management said in October 2012 that the City "will continue to actively monitor this emerging technology for future use in the City." Whether AB 1559 (if it becomes law) and its promise of grant availability might provide greater incentive for this in Long Beach remains to be seen.

Developing.