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A running, sourced timeline of how license-plate readers, body cams and AI policing tools are actually going — and what the failures cost taxpayers.

Timeline / entry

· San Diego, CA

SDPD records show ShotSpotter false-alarm rate far above company claim

Voice of San Diego obtained San Diego Police Department data covering 584 ShotSpotter activations from late 2016 through February 2020. SDPD classified 72 activations, 12.3 percent, as unfounded. ShotSpotter’s senior vice president of marketing Sam Klepper said the company had a 0.5 percent false-positive rate. Police made two arrests while responding to activations; nearly 60 percent of dispatches produced no report. SDPD Lt. Jeffrey Peterson wrote in December 2019, ‘I don’t support keeping it based on the cost.’ The city’s $1 million four-year contract was set to expire Nov. 21.

$1,000,000Contract spendreportednot on THE TABReported value of four-year ShotSpotter contract; system still in use at publication.

Also in San Diego, CA

3 entries over 5 yr 11 mo, oldest first. The gap is the time since the previous one.

  1. SDPD records show ShotSpotter false-alarm rate far above company claim this entry
  2. +4 yr 11 moSan Diego approves $875,000 settlement in Evans case; bodycam release lawsuit continues
  3. +1 yrTwo men sue City of San Diego over wrongful arrest linked to Flock ALPR data

Sources

  1. ShotSpotter Sensors Send SDPD Officers to False Alarms More Often Than Advertised — Voice of San Diego, Sep 22, 2020 (voiceofsandiego.org)

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