Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Shuts Down Gunfire Detection System Despite Support from Minority Aldermen

brandon johnson
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Warner Todd Huston

Chicago’s “progressive” Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson is ending the city’s contract with the gunfire detection system ShotSpotter despite widespread support for the police department’s tool from minority members of the city council.

Johnson announced on Tuesday that he was ramping down the city’s contract with SoundThinking, the company that maintains the gunfire detection system. In his announcement, Johnson said he was renewing the company’s contract only through September 22. The termination date is notable because it is one month after the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that is set to be held in the Windy City from August 19-22.

“Moving forward, the city of Chicago will deploy its resources on the most effective strategies and tactics proven to accelerate the current downward trend in violent crime,” Johnson said in a press release on Tuesday. “Doing this work, in consultation with community, violence prevention organizations, and law enforcement, provides a pathway to a better, stronger, safer Chicago for all.”

Johnson’s announcement fulfills a promise he made during his 2023 campaign, during which he called the detection system racist.

On his campaign website, Johnson insisted that there was “clear evidence [ShotSpotter] is unreliable and overly susceptible to human error.” He also blamed the detection system for the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed in 2021 by a Chicago Police officer who was responding to a report that the system had detected gunfire in the area.

Johnson went on to suggest that instead of paying for ShotSpotter, funding should be spent on “new resources that go after illegal guns without physically stopping and frisking Chicagoans on the street.”

Johnson, though, faces stiff opposition over his decision from inside city hall.

Alderwoman Silvana Tabares blasted those advocating to eliminate ShotSpotter and accused them of greed.

“The only people against ShotSpotter are the community organizers who want to use the money that saves black and brown lives into their own pockets,” she told the media on Tuesday.

Alderman Anthony Beale called the move “another horrible decision” by the Johnson administration. Beale worried that communities covered by ShotSpotter would be less safe because many of the residents refuse to call the police when gunfire erupts. ShotSpotter is the primary tool that helps police locate and investigate shootings.

Beale added that if ShotSpotter is so bad, why wait to end the contract until a month after the DNC?

“If ShotSpotter is so bad, cancel it now,” Beale told WMAQ-TV:

Why do you want to wait until a month after the DNC? So you want to protect the people that are coming in for the DNC and then cancel it a month after? It’s good enough for them; why is it not good enough for the rest of the people here in the city of Chicago?

Beale also noted that Johnson’s handpicked police superintendent, Larry Snelling, had called the system a crucial tool in the Chicago Police Department’s ability to respond to violent crime and gang violence.

City hall essentially confirmed that the contract is only being terminated in September because of the DNC.

Mayoral adviser Jason Lee told the media that the Johnson regime picked September 22 after the Chicago Police Department said it worried about a “discontinuity of operations” if the system was shut down sooner, as it would put “stressors on the department this summer” during events, including the DNC.

“The DNC factored in from a standpoint of capacity,” Lee added, according to South Side Weekly. “You want to give yourself time to ensure everyone’s fully trained, get their ducks in a row, so that when tech is turned off, there isn’t an operational discontinuity.”

Despite the mayor’s decision to renew the contract for the system through September, SoundThinking said Wednesday night that it was rejecting the six-month extension of its contract with the city. The company noted that a half-year contract is unacceptable and intends to turn ShotSpotter off on Friday, Chicago’s WLS-TV reported.

With time left until that deadline, the ball is now in the mayor’s court to find a compromise with the company.

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