Cincinnati police installed new gunfire-locating ShotSpotter technology. It confirmed their fears.

New gunshot-detectors deployed in August confirmed the fears of police: People only call 911 a small fraction of the times guns are fired.

For the first four months, city data shows, ShotSpotter detected 257 gunfire incidents in and around Avondale.

Only 40 resulted in a 911 call - about one in six incidents.

In November, an extreme example, ShotSpotter detected 61 gunfire incidents but Assistant Chief Paul Neudigate said 911 was only called for five of those events. He presented this data to city leaders in December.

He said if it weren't for Shotspotter, police wouldn't have known about 92 percent of the incidents in November. A "gunfire incident" isn't just a single shot. If multiple shots are fired in a short period in the same location, that counts as a single incident.

Last year, the city spent $225,000 to cover three square miles with a network of listening devices used to triangulate the location of gunshots. The system blankets all of Avondale and parts of North Avondale, Walnut Hills, Corryville and Mount Auburn.

Police officials in other cities using ShotSpotter have come to the same realization. Since August 16 when Shotspotter went online, Neudigate said it has revealed that 84 percent of all gunfire in the coverage area does not result in a 911 call.

Why don't residents always call 911?

They don't believe police will respond to 911 calls. In a survey of Avondale residents conducted by the Cincinnati Police Department, about 50 percent said gunfire was their top concern, but only 10 percent said they believed it was the top priority for police, Neudigate said.

"I can absolutely tell you it's our number one priority, but that's the perception we're fighting," Neudigate said.

They don't feel they have enough information to help police.

Ozie Davis, community activist and founding director of the Avondale Comprehensive Development Corporation, said if residents don't see a shooter or a victim, a 911 call might not do much.

"Things are never perfect when it comes to shootings, but [ShotSpotter] seems helpful," Davis said. "Just hearing gunfire doesn't amount to anything if I don't know where it's coming from or see anybody shooting.Thus, it's easier to not get involved."

They may be inured to it. Based on ShotSpotter data, gunshots ring out daily, on average.

The technology gives officers a 25-square-meter area, the size of two large parking spots, to search after shots are detected.

Pastor Ennis Tait with Church of the Living God in Avondale has worked to reduce gun violence in his neighborhood for years. He said he's not sure many residents know about it or "see the value yet," but he thinks it will reduce the number of shootings.

But that hasn't happened yet.

Avondale saw three fatal shootings and 11 non-fatal shootings in 2017 after ShotSpotter went live. During that same period in 2016, Avondale saw 11 non-fatal shootings, but no homicides.

Reduction in gun violence is a long-term goal, but Neudigate said police are already seeing other benefits.

He said about 60 percent of gunshot victims leave the scene of the shooting and many of those do not cooperate with investigators. ShotSpotter, he said, gives police the location of a crime scene even if a victim does not want to reveal it.

A 14-year-old was arrested in early December with a .40 caliber handgun after ShotSpotter alerted police to gunfire. ShotSpotter led to another arrest the day after Christmas and again on New Year's Day. (The system was turned off New Year's Eve due to the high amount of celebratory gunfire and fireworks.)

Neudigate said a homicide on Glenwood Avenue in December would have likely been viewed as an isolated incident had ShotSpotter not shown increased gunfire in the area. Now investigators know the street needs more attention, he said.

"It's not all about arrests," Neudigate said. It can help officers build better relationships with the community, he said.

After every gunfire incident, officers talk to nearby residents. If no one answers the door, a flier is left telling residents shots were fired and who they can contact if they know anything.

ShotSpotter alerts are treated exactly the same way as a 911 call, he said. Officers treat both as if there is a shooting in progress.

National experts have questioned the expense of the technology and whether it actually reduces crime, and many police departments acknowledge it rarely leads to a smoking gun or a shooting victim.

Neudigate said ShotSpotter's effectiveness is multiplied by other technologies like the national ballistic database. It's basically a fingerprint system for shell casings and bullets. Now, a shell casing found at one location can be matched to casings found at other scenes.

In his last Law and Public Safety Committee meeting in December, Councilman Kevin Flynn advocated expanding the system to other areas of the city saying it should be a matter of "not if, but when."

The city's pays $195,000 yearly subscription fee to ShotSpotter. This is on top of the initial installation costs. The size of the coverage area determines the fee. ShotSpotter's 2017 rates for Cincinnati were $65,000 per square mile. Cincinnati is nearly 80 square miles, so the operating costs for complete coverage could top $5 million each year.

Neudigate said the system's use in Avondale is a test. He said he's not ready to declare ShotSpotter a complete success, but now believes it is a "valuable, critical" piece of crime-fighting technology.