CPD ShotSpotter “Lives Saved” List Includes at Least One Dead Man, Other Misleading Wins
CPD ShotSpotter “Lives Saved” List Includes at Least One Dead Man, Other Misleading Wins
Records show the Chicago Police Department has misrepresented the extent of the technology’s role in providing aid to gunshot victims.
ShotSpotter plays a lot of games with the numbers.
Notably with their accuracy.
Say shot spotter goes off and sends the cops out. They find no evidence of a shooting. No injuries, no property damage, no shell casings. No problem at all.
Would you call that a "false positive"?
ShotSpotter doesn't. They only count a false positive if the cops can definitively say what the noise was, fireworks, backfire, transformer explosion, etc.
If they can't determine a cause, other than "well, it wasn't gunfire..." ShotSpotter doesn't count it as a false reading.
I’ve had training in basic statistics at multiple times in my career. The technical term for this is horseshit. Or is it bullshit? Hmm, time to hit the books again I guess.