as reported by Block Club Chicago. “If we’re going to invest in something, it should be effective, or at least provide us with clear data.”</p>
Later in the year, during a City Council vote on a motion that would grant CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling the authority to proceed with a new ShotSpotter contract without the mayor’s consent, Taylor was absent from the voting. However, she informed reporters that she would have voted in favor of granting Snelling that power if she had been present. Her vote would have made it the 34th approving vote, just enough to override a Johnson veto. Instead, the measure only received 33 votes for passage.
About this series
At 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2024, Chicago officially discontinued its use of ShotSpotter, the gunfire detection technology that operated within some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods. The system provided timely alerts to Chicago police about gunfire incidents, often pinpointing exact street addresses or specific locations like alleyways, sidewalks, and gangways.
Mayor Brandon Johnson moved forward with the termination despite appeals from numerous aldermen, residents, victims’ advocates, and even his own police superintendent, who all expressed a desire to retain the system.
This page by CWBChicago will continue to document incidents where individuals were shot in areas previously covered by ShotSpotter—cases where the technology might have significantly aided in ensuring a swift response, particularly when no 911 calls were made or when the provided information regarding gunfire was unclear or inaccurate.
Editor’s note: As of May 21, 2025, a case previously identified as #13 has been removed following a determination by the Cook County Medical Examiner that the individual died by suicide due to a fall from a height.
Tim Hecke is the managing partner at CWBChicago. He began his journalism career at KMOX, the iconic news radio station in St. Louis, later working at various stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. He subsequently developed syndicated radio news and content services that catered to all 100 of America’s largest radio markets. In 2019, he took on the role of managing partner at CWBChicago.
His email address is tim@cwbchicago.com
