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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

· Chicago, IL

Chicago Lets ShotSpotter Contract Expire After $49 Million in Spending

Chicago became the largest American city to drop ShotSpotter when its contract expired on September 23, 2024, after six years and roughly $49 million in spending. Mayor Brandon Johnson allowed the contract to lapse, following studies showing the system rarely produced evidence of gun crime, sent officers on tens of thousands of dead-end runs, and disproportionately surveilled Black and Latino neighborhoods. The city has not announced a replacement.

$49,000,000Cancelled contractreportedon THE TABCumulative spending on ShotSpotter over roughly six years, per source.

Also in Chicago, IL

10 entries over 6 yr 4 mo, oldest first. The gap is the time since the previous one.

  1. Chicago police decommission the Strategic Subject List after $3.8 million and ten years
  2. +3 monthsOIG advisory on CPD predictive risk models cites unreliability and decommissioning
  3. +4 monthsACLU sues Clearview AI; Chicago PD says it no longer uses the facial recognition tool
  4. +1 yr 3 moChicago OIG finds ShotSpotter rarely leads to evidence of gun crimes
  5. +10 monthsCook County holds hearing on ICE data broker use
  6. +2 yr 3 moChicago switches off ShotSpotter after spending more than $53 million since 2018
  7. +1 dayChicago Lets ShotSpotter Contract Expire After $49 Million in Spending this entry
  8. +6 monthsFederal judge approves Clearview AI settlement paying class in company equity, valued at $51.75 million
  9. +5 monthsChicago pays $90,000 to settle class action over ShotSpotter-prompted stops
  10. +7 monthsChicago pays $500,000 to man charged with murder on the strength of a ShotSpotter alert

Sources

  1. Chicago ShotSpotter: Costs, Lawsuits, and Shutdown Fallout — StatesLaws, Aug 27, 2026 (stateslaws.com)

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