Think before you shoot

I just received an email from my buddy L referencing an article on the Baltimore Sun website about Johns Hopkins University launching a gunfire detection system and I have to say that this is another example of how much I love technology. And it's also a great example of how technology can be used for good.

The way the system works is that sensors are put in place on buildings, lightposts, and other objects throughout an area and these sensors can detect a gunshot and distinguish it from other "similar" sounds like fireworks or a car backfiring with 90% accuracy (which is pretty good in my opinion). Once a gunshot is recognized, the sensor sends a signal to a receiving station that calculates the area of the gunshot and displays it on a GPS. From there, dispatchers can dispatch police to the area. This probably cuts down the police response time tremendously as it can all happen in a matter of seconds I'd assume.

Having done my undergraduate degree at the Hopkins Homewood campus where this system has been installed I can understand some of the issues/problems within the area so I think this is a great thing for the students and the community. It's a good testing area for a system like this because there aren't very many shootings in the area from what I see/hear so it's presumably a good low-violence starting point to see if this system may work city-wide. Anyone who lives in or near Baltimore knows that a system like this (if it really is affective) is probably a necessity in certain areas of Baltimore city. It's good to know that if someone shoots a gun that police and EMTs will be quicker to respond. This may help prevent shootings and also save lives in the case of a shooting. Now if we could only get these guns off the streets!

I work about 4 blocks from the Hopkins Homewood campus where the sensors have been installed and I think I am going to try to find a few of them just out of curiosity. I thought this was pretty tight considering the use of technology so I'm passing it along. For the full article and video, click here.