Gun detection technology makes Fresno debut

Before this week, gunshots in some of Fresno’s most crime-ridden areas could go unreported, unnoticed and undetected. Not anymore. A gunshot detection program called Shot Spotter is changing the way Fresno police officers learn about and respond to gun violence.

"We have a technological system in place today that will allow us to more accurately and timely respond to those incidents," says Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. "And the chance of them being arrested is far greater than it was last week."

Fifty sensors now cover three square miles of town with a history of gang and gun violence. When a gun is fired, police are alerted immediately. Dyer says the system is even capable of detecting drive by shootings, and can determine the direction of a shooter’s car.

"Will say those gunshots are going east to west and north to south, and the speed. It will provide that to the officers," he says.

The police department is not revealing where the sensors are, but we know they’re about the size of a football and attached to buildings and poles. Dyer says the faster response time will lead to more arrests and more saved lives, but he also knows there’s another risk.

"There’s always going to be a concern that there could be increased likelihood of confrontation between officers and armed individuals, but that goes with the territory of responding quicker to these types of calls."

The project is funded for the next three years by a state grant. Dyer hopes the three square miles will soon expand to nine or ten square miles.