I have an interest in a new hardware + software hacking project: the idea is to have a microphone array with a RPi that you can put outside that can help determine the direction (maybe distance after conditioning) of gunshots.

Would 4 mics be enough?...
959706
I think software can be shortcut by involving users in screening.

-potential gunshots identified: buffer saved to disk
-let user review w/direction guidance. User can determine whether it was a car door/dumpster/fireworks, and distinguish echo vs OG
959707
It's not like this would auto-call 911. More like, a user *hears* the gunfire (already knows not a false positive), pulls up the recording playback with direction UI, and determines direction within echo. Something like that.
959708
@33MHz Chicago has that kind of setup, but they're done by the police, don't they? So like, you want the citizen version. Should be reasonable to find rough specs on theirs and do an independent build.
959710
959712
@33MHz that says 3 mics in one setup is enough to get accuracy within 7% in terms of direction. if you get 2-3 of those setups with coordinated timers, you get rough location, if they all hear the event.
959721
@igmp_join your link looks helpful... I wonder if I can put such a system to use on a neighborhood beamed wifi system (I'm interested in the neighborhood having a pooled Internet service, and we could deploy a few of these for the pinpointing aspect)
959731
@igmp_join yes, all metro police have these, but generally you have to pay to have them installed/maintained. Very sophisticated (I assume). Cops offered our neighborhood org to pay for a gunshot detector, but I believe we had to pay for a waystation.
959713
@33MHz Ah. didn't realize it was even a specifically-paid-for service. That's interesting.
959715
@igmp_join we have a couple optics trailers in the neighborhood, one because of all the murders at the liquor store. (its liquor license is up for renewal and we all submitted statements against them! Same owners as the gas station)
959726
@igmp_join quite expensive (bathroom, PC with Internet, small room for cops to take breaks in, plus very expensive hardware and a monthly? charge)
959719
@33MHz what!?!?!? It's an actual waystation, with square footage in the neighborhood, not just piped back to the police office? That's weird.
959722
@igmp_join yeah!! They recommend it because it means cops will take breaks in your neighborhood instead of going to the police station.
959724
@33MHz I mean, that's definitely useful in it's own separate area. But that they don't just send the audio feed to a larger central location really seems like a waste.
959725
@igmp_join possibly issues with privacy? Easy to dump these at any problem areas if they are just using them to facilitate action.
959727
@igmp_join so in 2008 the city got ShotSpotter; https://atlasofsurveillance.org/a/aos5115-st-louis-metropolitan-police-department-gunshot-detection

Not clear where that's used, or if it still is.
959734
@igmp_join actually they call it a substation.
959728
@igmp_join still in use in 2018, but makes it clear the city pays for particular areas of deployment: https://fox2now.com/news/gunshot-detection-system-shotspotter-one-year-later/
959736
"Of the 2,408 ShotSpotter events this past year, only 297 also received at least... - http://chimpnut.nl/u/33MHz/lp/959737 - #longpost
959737
cookie jar (l)

"Of the 2,408 ShotSpotter events this past year, only 297 also received at least one call for service from someone in the community. McGuire called this figure “shocking.”" Yeah, if I hear stray gunfire, I don't report it. Nothing constructive to report.…

Read on Longpo.st

Quasi study [link.springer.com]
STL death [m.riverfronttimes.com]
MN debate [govtech.com]
959745
959746
“The solutions to those problems are not to continue to surveil Black and Brown communities. The solutions to those problems are money, resources, people who actually care about the people living in our most underserved and neglected neighborhoods.”
959752
What a crisis. Metro police has no hope of recovery in this environment. We must all buy firearms. o_O
959758
The stray gunfire I didn't report a few weeks ago was an execution-style murder a few blocks away, that my neighbor witnessed.
959761
*Two blocks away
959762
@33MHz stay safe my friend!!
959787
960254
@33MHz We have shotspotter too, and I don't think they can respond to many of them. https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2020/86-of-shootings-in-oakland-are-unreported
960048
@kyle yeah, I think if it's all reported. I just want to be able to report better what I'm hearing, not report everything I'm not hearing. 😛
960821
@kyle (I think we don't have ShotSpotter, just the county does, I think it's too expensive for the city)
960823
@33MHz Yeah.

"I heard something but have no idea how close it was or which direction it came from. But, I heard something!"

That's not helpful. :-)
960253
@igmp_join metros also have like big trailers full of optics that they deploy at troublesome intersections (and some lighter weight cop camera things they put on traffic poles), but I'm fairly certain they are just live feeds and don't detect gunshots.
959723
Long tail: basic stats on non-interactive events (times user doesn't hear sounds, but system might have recorded event, questionable), also track user's input for ML? Learn false positives, direction, distance. Tally when 911 called, police follow-up.
959711
I think the first thing such a system might reveal would be the neighbors who are shooting into the air or messing around. It would make it clear where the "hot spots" are, quickly.
959732