Two years after Mayor Brandon Johnson canceled the city’s ShotSpotter contract, his administration is planning to launch a pilot program that will include testing other gunshot detection technologies on parts of the South and West sides.
But a week after city officials first told alderpeople the program was in the works to begin this fall, its full scope remains unclear. That sparked frustrations from City Council members on Oct. 28 during a larger budget hearing for the Chicago Police Department.
Even the department’s acting superintendent, Fred Waller, said he wished “he knew more” about the pilot when asked by a reporter for additional details.
ShotSpotter has been one of the defining public safety issues of Johnson’s time in office. The controversial system, which uses sensors to alert first responders to the location of suspected gunfire, has been lauded by some as a vital life-saving tool and sharply criticized by others who have questioned its efficacy after studies found it “rarely” led to evidence of gun crimes.
Johnson campaigned on phasing out the technology, and ultimately terminated the city’s contract with ShotSpotter parent company SoundThinking in September 2024, after Chicago hosted that year’s Democratic National Convention.
At the time, Johnson pledged that the city would look for new technology that could alert police and other emergency responders to gunfire.
The city then issued a request for proposals for the technology in early 2025 and received 9 bids from various companies, officials previously said. But a contract has yet to move forward, prompting alderpeople to repeatedly press the Johnson administration to take action.
Last week, a City Council committee advanced an ordinance that would force Johnson to award a contract for gunshot detection technology within 30 days of its passage. The measure must still be approved by the full council.
In a surprise move ahead of that meeting, however, Sharla Roberts, the city’s chief procurement officer, told alderpeople in a letter that the city is preparing to launch pilot programs “to evaluate a range of violence interruption and public safety technologies, including gunshot detection systems” in six South and West side police districts.
Those districts are 2, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11.
In Roberts’ letter, which is dated Oct. 20, she said she anticipated the pilots to be “operational within the next two weeks.”
“Our goal is to ensure that procurement decisions are informed by evidence, grounded in community needs, and guided by our commitment to transparency, and fiscal responsibility,” Roberts wrote.
In a statement on Oct. 28, mayoral press secretary Allison Novelo said the pilot will begin “as soon as possible” with an update expected early next month. The pilot will last for six months and is separate from any “pending procurements” related to gunshot detection technology or other violence intervention systems, she added.
“At the conclusion of the pilot period, the final evaluation report, as well as data from the pilot will be reviewed holistically with the applicable user departments to determine any next steps,” the statement said.
Still, police department and public safety brass during last week’s budget hearing appeared largely in the dark about the specifics surrounding the upcoming pilot.
Waller called gunshot detection technology a “valuable tool,” but he and other officials did not provide substantive details in response to questions from alderpeople about what the pilot could look like or when it would actually begin.
“That would be for [procurement services] to answer. They’re the lead in that,” said Dan Casey, a managing deputy director the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration, which helped administer ShotSpotter.
“You have no idea?” West Side Ald Jason Ervin (28th) asked.
“I would be speculating,” said Casey, who, after being pressed again, cited the two-week timeline provided in Roberts’ letter.
And asked by a reporter for more details about the pilot during a break in Wednesday’s hearing, Waller said “I wish I knew, I wish I knew more,” but added that he “knew it was coming.”
Waller said later in the hearing that the department provided information on what areas they would like to see the technology used in during the pilot.
Some alderpeople found that lack of information exasperating.
In a statement, Johnson — who has derided ShotSpotter as “walkie talkies on a stick” — said the pilot program’s goal is to ensure technology the city pays for actually works.
“These pilots ensure that before we make long-term commitments, we understand what works, listen to the communities impacted, and make sure we’re getting results for Chicagoans, not simply enriching large corporations,” Johnson said in a statement. “Every Chicagoan deserves to feel safe when they leave for work, walk down their block, or spend time in their neighborhood, and we will continue this work to make our communities safer.”
The Chicago Police Department’s overall budget is set to rise by about $133 million in 2027 under Johnson’s budget proposal to $2.24 billion, a 6% spike over last year.