Gunshot reports increase with installation of ShotSpotter in Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has seen a 127 percent increase in reported gunshot 911 calls in some of Jacksonville’s neighborhoods

JSO said that increase is since the end of July when its new gun-detection system ShotSpotter went live.

Action News Jax spoke with a mother whose sons were in a shooting that was captured by ShotSpotter.

ShotSpotter, along with a JSO officer near the home, heard the gunshots. But if that officer wasn’t there, the mother said it's comforting knowing that police still would have known about the shooting and come to help.

“I think that’s a great thing … . I mean get here as soon as you can,” the mother said.

The mother, who didn’t want to show her face or reveal her identity, is talking about ShotSpotter, JSO’s new crime-fighting tool that listens for gunfire and then almost immediately let officers know where the shots came from.

In October, ShotSpotter heard the gunfire that injured the mother’s two sons. The boys were sleeping inside their Durkeeville home. She showed us how close the bullet holes were to her boys’ beds see the bullet holes near the boys’ beds

“It could have been worse than what it was,” she said.

This week, Sheriff Mike Williams updated City Council members on ShotSpotter, which went operational at the end of July. Since then, JSO said there’s been a 127 percent increase in reported gunshot calls in the ShotSpotter area compared to the same time last year. There have also been eight arrests and along with that, valuable evidence has been collected as well.

Four-hundred and sixty-two shell casings have been recovered and of the 39 incidents where casings were sent to the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network Lab in Atlanta, there have been “eight hits” or matches so far with other shootings.

That's valuable information that this mother hopes will help stop gun violence that has already touched her family.

“We doing OK … . We making it one day at a time,” she said.

And when it comes to matching casings to other shootings, JSO said its future Crime Gun Intelligence Center will be able to shorten the results to within 72 hours of submission.

Cox Media Group