Video: Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 23, 2024. (Produced by Andrea Guthmann)

Chicago officials scrapped the city’s controversial gunshot detection system late Sunday, as Mayor Brandon Johnson defied critics who warned that without ShotSpotter, police officers would be unable to stop a wave of gun violence.

The Chicago City Council voted 33-14 on Wednesday to rebuke Johnson’s decision to turn off the system of microphones and sensors that sent an alert to police officers every time the system picked up suspected gunfire.

Johnson has vowed to veto that measure, which he called illegal. It had been designed to give Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling the power to bypass the mayor’s office and directly ink a contract with SoundThinking, the firm that operates the system.

In a message to officers hours before the system was unplugged, Snelling told officers he was confident they would do everything possible to keep the city safe “no matter the circumstances” and urged them to remind Chicagoans to call 911 if they hear loud noises that could be gunshots.

The mayor has said repeatedly that the system did not live up to promises that it would reduce gun violence, calling it no more than a “walkie talkie on a pole.” Critics believe the system contributes to the overpolicing of neighborhoods home to a majority of Black and Latino Chicagoans.

However, supporters of ShotSpotter say it is an important tool, and tout its ability to speed police to victims of gun violence in cases where there is no corresponding 911 call. The system is not used to dispatch paramedics.

Hours before officials took the system offline, Johnson encouraged firms to submit proposals to use technology to “ensure quick response by law enforcement authorities in emergency situations.”

Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood told WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” program on Monday that city officials are excited to see what kind of technology is available.

“For far too long we’ve been pigeonholed with one form of technology,” Gatewood said.

That process began months ago, Gatewood said. Johnson in February announced he would cancel the city’s contract with SoundThinking.

It is likely to take city officials months to get any new systems up and running. Firms have six months to submit an initial proposal to city officials.

Any new system must cover the entire city of Chicago and be able to report “incidents” to police with positional data within 60 seconds, with 95% accuracy, to help the city “improve detection of violent crime, expedite response times, improve the likelihood of obtaining forensic evidence and speed up medical response and first aid for victims,” according to the city’s request for information.

The now-decommissioned ShotSpotter system only operated on the South and West sides.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg released an audit in August 2021 that found fewer than one in 10 ShotSpotter alerts resulted in evidence of a gun-related criminal offense being found.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx released a report in February that found the system rarely led to prosecutions for gun crimes.

SoundThinking, the firm that operates ShotSpotter, is the only firm that operates a system designed to use acoustic sensors to detect gunshots. The firm said it would respond to the city’s request for information.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]