Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson today announced the next phase of the planned expansion of strategic nerve centers that support police in preventing, combating and responding to violent crime in the south and west sides after the demonstrated success of this program in the six districts currently equipped. In the 3rd (Grand Crossing) and 4th (South Chicago) police districts, station-based Strategic Decision Support Centers, district-wide gunshot detection systems, POD crime cameras and mobile phone technology will be installed by the end of January 2018 aimed at keeping residents safe in every neighborhood.

“These nerve centers, bringing together on-the-ground intelligence from officers with modern data analytics, have become the heartbeat of the six districts that are now helping to drive record decreases in gun violence, where they were once driving increases in that same violence,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I have dedicated the resources for six new nerve centers by the end of next year, and we are working toward seeing similar reductions in Grand Crossing and South Chicago next.”

The implementation of this predictive technology and analytical tools builds upon CPD’s 2017 crime strategy of targeted, data driven enforcement to build a culture of accountability among violent offenders. Throughout the year, this combination of tools and personnel were implemented in six police districts on the south and west sides where gun violence has presented the greatest, in some cases decades long, challenges: 6th (Gresham), 7th (Englewood), 9th (Deering), 10th (Ogden), 11th (Harrison) and 15th (Austin) police districts.

“Throughout 2017, we have seen sustained reductions in gun violence as part of our commitment to fight crime using a combination of human intuition and data,” said CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson. “The latest expansion into the 3rd and 4th Districts signal our intention to make the investments we need to make our communities safer and allow them to have a better, brighter future.”

The 7th District, the first area equipped with this technology in February 2017, has seen a 45% reduction in shootings and a 43% reduction in homicides compared with 2016. This year’s numbers are the lowest gun violence statistics the district has seen since the turn of the century.

Across all six police districts that currently utilize these tools, shootings are down a quarter compared with last year, outpacing the 20% citywide reduction in shootings. In raw numbers, nearly 650 less people have been shot in Chicago this year, with and 18 out of 22 police districts have seeing reductions in gun violence.

Today’s announcement includes the following technologies:

Gunshot Detection and POD Crime Cameras Expansion
The City will install the ShotSpotter® gunshot detection system to cover the entire 3rd and 4th police districts on the city's south side, as well as increase the number of POD crime cameras. The POD crime camera footprint will be increased to allow for better integration between the two technologies.

ShotSpotter is a sophisticated system that uses electronic monitoring to detect gun shots. It detects the fullest range of gunfire, collects data that helps CPD define the scope of illegal gunfire, and with this expansion now covers exponentially more geographic area. On average, the technology gives police a five-minute lead on incidents of gun violence when compared to traditional 911 calls. The real-time monitoring also serves as a "force multiplier,” providing critical information for better, more timely resource allocation.

Strategic Decision Support Centers
Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSC), which will be installed in the 3rd and 4th police districts, are district based intelligence centers that utilize existing data sources within CPD, such as offender criminal history databases and past crime data. The technology will also integrate with ShotSpotter gunshot detection and POD cameras in those police districts. The new SDSC places all this information it into a single, usable platform that will ensure district command staff and officers are prepared with the information necessary to plan their patrol deployment or respond to a call. The new centers will each be staffed with a District Intelligence Officer who can coordinate the information directly with patrol units in the field, as well as a civilian University of Chicago data analyst who will work to ensure the software is being utilized and that data is being collected effectively.

Mobile Technology
CPD will also issue mobile phones equipped with ShotSpotter notification to every beat officer who responds to a service call in the 3rd and 4th districts. These devices will give officers real-time access to district intelligence information and gunshot detection notifications to police officers in the field. This mobile technology will allow for smarter, data driven patrols and significantly decreased response times to potential service calls.

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