{"id":240,"date":"2026-06-01T23:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240"},"modified":"2026-06-01T23:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:35:01","slug":"cambridge-police-have-to-remove-shotspotter-officers-arent-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240","title":{"rendered":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two weeks ago, Cambridge City Council narrowly voted in favor of getting rid of ShotSpotter, a sensor system that records loud sounds that could be gunshots and alerts local police. The vote went against the recommendation of city manager Yi-An Huang and leadership at Cambridge Police Department (CPD), which said the technology has helped police respond quickly to gunfire.<\/p>\n

Read more Somerville City Council passes resolutions to recognize new union, strengthen sanctuary city protections<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, one of the unions representing the officers themselves is weighing in \u2014 and is frustrated with council\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association (CPPOA) said in a statement it \u201cis deeply disappointed by the City Council\u2019s vote to eliminate the use of ShotSpotter technology in Cambridge. As the union representing nearly 200 police officers sworn to protect and serve this city, we must question the very commitment of the City Council to public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement was sent through Cosmo Macero, a partner at strategic communications firm Seven Letter.<\/p>\n

ShotSpotter\u2019s maker, California technology company SoundThinking, has garnered criticism over concerns about its efficacy and data privacy, leading to cities like Chicago and Dayton abandoning the program and Detroit considering the same.<\/p>\n

In Cambridge, public commenters raised concerns about ShotSpotter\u2019s ability to record private conversations and SoundThinking\u2019s relationship with the federal government. Cambridge\u2019s ShotSpotter program is funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Commenters posited this existing relationship means conversations captured by ShotSpotter sensors would be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, another DHS sub-agency.<\/p>\n

The police union dismissed these concerns, stating \u201cThere is no credible evidence that ShotSpotter has been used to monitor private conversations or identify individuals. Its purpose is narrow: detect likely gunfire, locate it quickly, and help first responders act faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter also invoked last month\u2019s shooting on Memorial Drive and 11 recorded instances in which ShotSpotter was able to identify gunfire when no 911 call was made as reasons for keeping the technology. ShotSpotter did not play a role in the Memorial Drive response, however, as the location of the shooting was outside of the technology\u2019s range. Furthermore, in at least one of the instances where lifesaving aid was administered to someone who had been shot, triggering a ShotSpotter alert, officers had heard the gunfire in person and were already on the way.<\/p>\n

Read more Encouraged by climate change innovation funding<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Cambridge deserve public safety decisions that improve emergency response. Unfortunately, the City Council has voted to make it harder for police officers and first responders to know when and where help is urgently needed,\u201d the letter concluded.<\/p>\n

Council divisions<\/h2>\n

The two council members who voted \u201cno\u201d to removing ShotSpotter have continued to be critical of its removal. Councillors E. Denise Simmons and Timothy Flaherty said that the debate around the technology \u201celevated ideology over facts.\u201d (The vote during May 18th<\/sup>\u2019s meeting was 5-2-2, with Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem and Councillor Cathie Zusy voting \u201cpresent.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real question is not whether Cambridge should tolerate unchecked surveillance. It should not,\u201d Simmons and Flaherty wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed. \u201cThe question is whether a narrowly focused gunfire-detection system, governed by strict rules and public oversight, can improve emergency response without compromising constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also addressed concerns raised by members of the public that ShotSpotter contributes to the over-policing of neighborhoods of color, saying better governance, not removing the technology, was the way to correct biased policing.<\/p>\n

The councillors re-affirmed their commitment to strategies that address the root causes of violence, including better housing, mental health, and youth programs. \u201cBut those are long-term strategies,\u201d they said. \u201cWhen shots are fired, the need is immediate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of the councillors who voted to stop using ShotSpotter, Patty Nolan and Marc McGovern, wrote a letter to the editor in response, arguing in part that \u201cAfter more than 10 years of ShotSpotter\u2019s deployment, we have seen no proof of its effectiveness or evidence that it makes us safer or improves outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Transparency on tap during feisty debate between Decker and MacKay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, Cambridge City Council narrowly voted in favor of getting rid of ShotSpotter, a sensor system that records loud sounds that could be gunshots and alerts local police. The vote went against the recommendation of city manager Yi-An Huang and leadership at Cambridge Police Department (CPD), which said the technology has helped police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[14,8],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-cambridge-city-council","tag-public-safety"],"yoast_head":"\nCambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two weeks ago, Cambridge City Council narrowly voted in favor of getting rid of ShotSpotter, a sensor system that records loud sounds that could be gunshots and alerts local police. The vote went against the recommendation of city manager Yi-An Huang and leadership at Cambridge Police Department (CPD), which said the technology has helped police […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"headline\":\"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240\"},\"wordCount\":702,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cambridge City Council\",\"public safety\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Government\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240\",\"name\":\"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=240#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub","og_description":"Two weeks ago, Cambridge City Council narrowly voted in favor of getting rid of ShotSpotter, a sensor system that records loud sounds that could be gunshots and alerts local police. The vote went against the recommendation of city manager Yi-An Huang and leadership at Cambridge Police Department (CPD), which said the technology has helped police […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240","og_site_name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"headline":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy","datePublished":"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240"},"wordCount":702,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg","keywords":["Cambridge City Council","public safety"],"articleSection":["Government"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240","name":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy - Cambridge Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-01T23:35:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b74e38b1ee2407115be562f968fb7440.jpg","width":1024,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=240#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cambridge police have to remove ShotSpotter. Officers aren\u2019t happy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/","name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}