WASHINGTON – The D.C. police have been listening in on gunshots in the city, and the numbers may be surprising.
The Washington Post reports that the city’s ShotSpotter technology covers a 20-square-mile area – roughly a third of the District – and has counted 39,000 gunshot incidents in the last eight years. That’s twice the number of felony gun crimes actually reported.
Gunshots are down 40 percent in recent years, the Post says, and gun homicides are also down sharply.
The technology is used to detect gunfire and dispatch officers to the scene, the Post says.
WTOP’s Hank Silverberg contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
