It’s been two and a half years since Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cancelled the city’s contract with ShotSpotter and while there had been promises of a replacement, specifics haven’t been available until now.
A new technology called SplitSec is being tested in the city’s 42nd Ward. The software relies on cellphones rather than listening devices on poles and towers to deliver a warning about gunfire in a specific area.
“Our mission really is to bring a privacy-first, low-cost way to explore personal safety and awareness for everyone,” the company’s founder and CEO Sri Deivasigmani said.
According to developers, SplitSec takes an AI and crowdsourcing approach to gunshot detection. The app is always running on the user’s Android phone, and when it detects a sound like a gunshot, it wakes up and analyses the sound based on its training against 30,000 other noises.
If the program thinks the sound was a gunshot, it will alert the user. That user can then confirm or deny SplitSec’s conclusion.
If two or more users confirm the sound, the app will send out an alert to all users in a one-mile radius. It does not call police, but there is a button at the bottom of the screen to call 911.
At the kickoff meeting for the two-month trial, Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly said the system can help make up for a lack of police resources.
“Public safety has been one of my top priorities as alderman for the last 20 years and I am always looking for new technologies that can keep our neighborhoods safe,” he said
If the trial goes well, the system could be rolled out to other wards for more testing and evaluation. No cost has yet been set, but the price of $15,000 per ward has been disc.
Feedback, good or bad, is very important for the company at this stage, Deivasigmani said.
Potential users in the neighborhood say they would consider putting the app on their smartphones. Thomas Trevino said he would do it for personal safety.
Lawrence Chen compared it to another: the crowdsourced traffic and navigation app Waze.
“I think it makes sense,” he said. “I think it will be interesting to test out how accurate it is.”
Right now, the trial is free to users of Android phones. An iPhone version of the app is currently under development.
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