Chicago killed ShotSpotter. The argument still lives.

Chicago ended ShotSpotter. Then came the studies, the headlines, the political victory laps, and a much bigger question: What did the data actually prove? On this episode of FOX Chicago's A Four Star Podcast, Grant Horne is joined by Richard Day, journalist with A City That Works, for a deeper look at Chicago’s ongoing fight over gunshot detection technology, police response times, public safety data, and the way city leaders and media outlets interpret numbers when the politics are already loaded. The conversation centers on a recent report that some used to argue Mayor Brandon Johnson was right to cancel ShotSpotter. But Richard explains why the study may not answer the question many people think it answers - especially if it measures non-shooting 911 response times while leaving out the core concern: how police respond when gunfire actually happens. Grant and Richard also dig into the bigger debate behind the technology: whether Chicago wants police rapidly responding to gunfire in high-violence neighborhoods at all, whether ShotSpotter was used properly by CPD, and what should replace it if the city believes the system was flawed. Along the way, they discuss dispatch clog, seasonality, media framing, the Adam Toledo case, violence interrupters, proactive policing, underreported crime, the Ferguson effect, Chicago’s open data problems, and why the city’s fiscal crisis and public safety crisis may be more connected than people want to admit. This is not a simple “ShotSpotter good” or “ShotSpotter bad” conversation. It’s about what Chicago knows, what it doesn’t know, and what happens when public safety policy gets built on partial evidence. A Four Star Podcast - Chicago, but better. A new episode Tuesday mornings at 6AM. Get it on YouTube or your favorite podcatcher. A City That Works Substack: https://citythatworks.substack.com/ Richard Day on X: https://x.com/richsday Chapters 00:00 The media is bad at math 03:20 What City Hall claimed 06:24 Catching shooters or saving victims? 10:25 Should police respond fast? 12:19 Dispatch clog and alert accuracy 16:05 Response times and misleading conclusions 20:16 Seasonality and crime drops 23:31 Underreported crime 26:19 Police pullback 28:25 Ideology and crime coverage 33:13 Technology and policing costs 37:03 Replacing ShotSpotter 38:54 Adam Toledo and civil rights 43:34 Violence interrupters 45:37 Mayor Johnson and data 47:00 Chicago’s open data problem 49:14 Violence and pensions 50:47 A City That Works Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices