City of Newark and ShotSpotter Zero in on Gun Violence with the Community Foundation...

Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:50am EDT

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City of Newark and ShotSpotter Zero in on Gun Violence with the Community Foundation of New Jersey

ShotSpotter's Crime-Fighting Technology Helps Newark Police
Department Reduce Gun Violence
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The Community Foundation of New Jersey, on behalf of the City of
Newark and the Newark Police Department, has awarded ShotSpotter a
sole-source contract to deploy the wireless ShotSpotter Gunshot
Location System(R) (GLS) in the City. The technology alerts law
enforcement officials to the location of gunfire within seconds with
pinpoint accuracy, helping to reduce gun violence. The Newark
deployment represents the third ShotSpotter system installation in the
State of New Jersey. ShotSpotter, Inc. is a global leader in
interoperable, net-centric gunshot, sniper-detection and location
systems for law enforcement and military markets.

The ShotSpotter GLS(R) system will protect a seven-square-mile
area within the City of Newark providing real-time gunshot data
including shooter location, number of shooters, whether the shooter
was stationary or in motion, and the number of shots fired. Detailed
incident and forensic data will be provided for use in arrest and
prosecutions.

"Using this sonic technology will help our law enforcement
agencies respond to and eliminate incidents of gun violence in the
City of Newark. I am proud to call ShotSpotter a partner in our
efforts to make Newark set the national standard for urban
transformation," Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker said.

"City leaders must continually innovate and implement new
solutions to combat the epidemic of gun violence," said James G.
Beldock, ShotSpotter's president and CEO. "Mayor Booker and his
administration have already proven their dedication to innovative
policing techniques, and the ShotSpotter system will enable Newark
police not only to respond to gunfire more effectively and with
improved situational awareness, but it will also allow them to
exercise innovative new tactics to root out gun violence within
Newark."

Newark selected the ShotSpotter wireless GLS after a rigorous
evaluation and analysis of the gunshot detection and location market
that included interviewing cities that have purchased technology
throughout the U.S. for customer satisfaction, product reliability and
violent gunshot related crime reductions.

The system was 100 percent funded through private donations raised
by the Community Foundation of New Jersey that approved and secured
$1.2 million for the system.

Currently ShotSpotter is deployed in more than 29 major U.S.
cities. The system was recently credited with alerting San Francisco,
California, police of a teen shooting incident that resulted in
helping police and crime scene investigators find the location of the
crime scene and seize physical evidence, even though the victim had
left the scene and was found a block away.

About City of Newark, New Jersey

The nation's third-oldest major city, Newark, New Jersey was
founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans seeking religious freedom.
Over the next three centuries, Newark became a major industrial,
transportation, and financial center, as well as New Jersey's largest
city. Some of Newark's greatest natives include author Philip Roth,
singer Sarah Vaughan, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, Supreme Court Chief
Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and entertainers Queen Latifah and
Whitney Houston. Today with a population of 281,000, Newark is home to
one of the busiest seaports and airports in the United States, as well
as major corporations like Prudential, PSE&G, IDT, and Blue Cross/Blue
Shield of New Jersey. It is also a major center for the arts, with the
internationally-known Newark Museum, New Jersey Performing Arts
Center, and Newark Symphony Hall, home to six universities, and
entertainment, with an array of restaurants, parks, and the
recently-opened Prudential Center, home of the three-time NHL Stanley
Cup champion New Jersey Devils. Under the leadership of Mayor Cory A.
Booker, Newark has seen dramatic reductions in crime, increases in
housing and commercial development, the launching of groundbreaking
initiatives and partnerships to dramatically transform the City, and
major improvements to the quality of life for its diverse residents.
These works are central to achieving Mayor Booker's vision of Newark
as "America's leading urban city in safety, prosperity, and the
nurturing of family life."

About ShotSpotter, Inc.

ShotSpotter is an industry leader in the development of
innovative, interoperable net-centric gunshot, sniper-detection and
location systems for the law enforcement and military markets. The
company's focus on ingenuity and technological vision drives its
continuing mission to create invaluable solutions that reduce gunfire
and gun violence while improving the safety of first responders on the
street and soldiers on the front. Currently, the ShotSpotter Gunshot
Location System(R) protects many cities nationwide, consistently
producing arrests and weapons confiscations. Its individually worn
sniper detection and location system identifies and tracks friendly
military forces, providing dismounted forces with real-time
situational awareness (SA) to aid in maneuvers, reduce fratricide, add
to a mission's common operating picture, and support after-action
review. Information about ShotSpotter can be found at
www.shotspotter.com. For ongoing news, please go to
here.

(C)2008 ShotSpotter, Inc. All rights reserved. U.S. Patent Nos.
5,973,998; 6,847,587;7,139,222; 7,266,045; and other foreign and
domestic patents pending. ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System(R) is a
registered trademark of, and the ShotSpotter logo is a trademark of
ShotSpotter, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned herein
may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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ShotSpotter, Inc.
Laura M. Geary
Director, Marketing
Toll Free +1-888-274-6877 x248
Direct +1-408-329-9200 x248
laura@shotspotter.com
or
ShotSpotter, Inc.
Gregg Rowland
VP, Sales and Marketing
Toll Free +1-888-274-6877 x219
Direct +1-562-650-2673
gregg@shotspotter.com
or
NEWARK
Newark Press Information Office, +1-973-733-8004
Esmeralda Diaz Cameron, +1-201-396-2556
Press Secretary
Pressoffice@ci.newark.nj.us